Out of the Blue
by Mya Croft
Summary: Cassie is about to find love in the strangest of places. NEW AND IMPROVED Epilogue uploaded and story now COMPLETE! Happy Reading!
1. Family

**_To new and old readers! Welcome and Enjoy the NEW and (hopefully) IMPROVED Out of the Blue!_**

**_disclaimer: I own nothing! i'm just borrowing! :) _**

**Out of the Blue**

Chapter 1

**FAMILY**

Cassandra Frasier was bored!

Not for the first time, she was sitting on a bed feet dangling over the edge, in the SGC infirmary waiting for her bi-monthly check up results. 20 years and 10 months old she had had plenty of time to get used to the infirmary but over the last eleven years this place had seen to many bad memories. To her it always seemed so cold in here.

She watched the nurses busy themselves with making beds and restocking equipment. Other than herself there were surprisingly no other patients in for treatment today and she got the distinct impression, not for the first time, that the staff were doing their very best to avoid her. Ever since the death of her mother a few years ago other than SG 1 and a select few others most people at the SGC did their very best to avoid her at all costs.

She hadn't a clue why. Daniel had suggested that it wasn't that people didn't like her but that people had loved Janet so much that they were probably, even after all this time, still having trouble dealing with her death and that they were probably scared of upsetting her if they accidentally mentioned her mother. He was probably right. He usually was.

Thinking of Daniel brought a smile to her face. Her Earth family didn't just comprise of her mother but the members of SG 1. Jack, Daniel, Tealc and Sam had been her extended family since her first day on Earth. As she had grown up they had been there for every important event in her life from birthdays to the Prom. The latter, an experience she never wanted go through again after Jack and Tealc had proceeded to interrogate her date on the front porch for fifteen minutes before letting them leave. The guy in question had not spoken to her since.

All four of them had played an integral part in her life. Sam had become like an unofficial mum after Janet had died. She had stayed with Cassie until just recently, when Cassie had finally convinced her that she was quite capably of looking after herself and did so every time Sam had to go off world.

Tealc, never one to say very much, made a great movie buddy and would often accompany her to the movies and could actually be quite animated when discussing the finer aspects of the Star Wars galaxy.

Even though Jack had been promoted and spent most of the time knee deep in paperwork and saving the world he made a great uncle. He spoiled her to no end and Sam was always at him about it. He often had her up at the cabin for the weekend. She dent tell anyone but she loved spending time up there with him just fishing in a pond that Cassie knew didn't contain any fish. They would sit there for hours in silence. She found it very comforting and it reminded her of Hanka a lot.

Daniel was the advice giver. He used to sit and listen to her for hours whether it was her ranting on about how she had been treated in class that day or her sobbing over the latest cruel joke that had been played on her that day. He would just listen and then drop just enough hints to help her work out a solution to whatever problem she was having. Recently it was about what she was going to do with her life now that she had finished college. She had earned her degree in less than two years. Hankarians were apparently much faster learners than the Tauri. He waited until she had finished her latest rant and said that he needed some help in his lab.

"An assistant if you will." He had said.

She loved working with him. She did after all speak several different languages both from earth and off world and was quite good at translation.

But being in the lab was one thing being in the infirmary was another. Finally out of the corner of her eye she saw the doctor approach with her test results.

"Once again you have a clean bill of heath Cassie." He said

Inwardly she rolled her eyes. _I could have told you that _she thought.

"Don't worry" she replied "If light bulbs start exploding around me again you will be the first to know."

_Not that I would tell if they did_

Ever since the events of her sixteenth birthday she had continued to be able do little things like lifting things with her mind and the likes but it remained controlled. If anything it helped her to calm down during stressful situations. It was as if the concentration of the task made everything clearer, freed her to focus and gather her thoughts. As far as anyone else was concerned she had not retained any of the power that had been forced onto her by Nirrti. Not even Sam, Jack, Daniel or Tealc knew that she could still do it, only her mother. Janet had made sure that it was documented as having completely gone, to protect Cassie from being poked and prodded by scientists for the rest of her life. In turn Cassie only ever used it when no one else was around, and only ever in extreme cases of stress.

She smiled sweetly at the doctor "Are we done?" she asked.

"In a hurry? Got somewhere to be do we?" he asked.

Before she could answer back Daniel strolled in and headed over to where she was sitting. _Oh my hero perfect timing. _She thought.

"You done yet" he enquired

Cassie gave the doctor a questioning look and he just shrugged and walked away.

"Looks like it. What's up?" she asked

"Um nothing really, I was just getting worried. You were gone ages."

Again Cassie rolled her eyes and replied "You guys worry too much about me. You know I will not break if you leave me alone for more than a couple of hours."

Daniel just stared at her with the same look he gave to Jack when he didn't approve of something had said or done. "Well I was just going to meet the rest of the guys in the mess hall. Are you hungry?"

"Not really." she sighed "But if I don't come with you you'll just send Sam to get me and that will be painful. Lead the way." Daniel just gave that look again and ushered her out of the door.

They entered the mess hall and headed over to the food line, grabbed some food and found the table that Jack, Sam and Tealc were sitting at. Cassie sat down next to Tealc and eyed his overflowing plate of food.

"Big day huh Tealc?" She commented. She loved teasing him about the amount of food he seemed to put away on a daily basis.

"Not especially Cassandra Frasier. " He replied not even looking up from his plate. He was defiantly on a mission to finish it.

"Tealc, how many times do I have to tell you, it's just Cassie" she playfully berated him.

"So Cass how was your check up?" asked Sam.

"In perfect health as usual" she replied.

"See. I told ya, nothing to worry about" Jack said turning to Sam. "Fit as a fiddle."

Sam was about to ask another question when a page came over the PA for Jack to take a call. "That's me folks" he announced and got up from the table and strolled over to the phone. Sam, looking a little deflated at the interruption, also got up saying that she really needed to get back to the lab and check on the diagnostic she was running.

One by one they left until Cassie was alone. Though Daniel had put up a fight saying he would be back to make sure she had eaten everything. She felt like she was ten again. She truly loved them all dearly but sometimes she could have strangled the lot of them.

But even though they could be a little suffocating at times they were all she had. After her sixteenth birthday and the disaster that was the prom all the kids at school had started calling her 'the freak'. To be honest she didn't really blame them for being scared of her after all they had no idea what was going on in the universe around them. Once in collage she threw herself into her studies not leaving much time to make any friends, she had had a few boyfriends there but ultimately they never worked out. It didn't really bother her much as most people didn't understand her anyway. No, she was fine how she was and she had a great group of people that loved her right here at the SGC.

She quickly finished up and headed for the lab.


	2. 48hours ahhh!

Chapter 2

**48 HOURS… ARGH!!!!**

General Jack O'Neill had just found out that the President of the United States was coming to the SGC on a Two-day visit. To say that he was a little nervous was saying something. He had 48 hours to get the place in some resemblance of working order and he was panicking. Currently he was pacing his office waiting for Daniel to show up and talk him through what the hell he was going to do. It was days like these that he hated being in charge. Give him a Gould mother ship any day.

Daniel walked calmly in head down looking at a clipboard and sat down.

"So Danny Boy, what you got there?" Jack asked trying to see over the top of the clipboard.

"Huh? Oh sorry it the President's itinerary" he said and handed it over to the General.

Jack took a look at it and quickly deciding that it was too much to look at and handed it back to Daniel. "I really hate this part of the job" he said verbally expressing what he had been thinking moments before Daniel had entered.

Daniel chose to ignore what he said. "So the president will arrive first thing Wednesday morning and will debrief with you first and then tour the base for the rest of the day. Then Thursday he will take a trip through the gate to the alpha site spend a few hours there and then meet with us again before heading back to Washington."

"The Alpha site"

"Yep, he wants to experience gate travel."

"Really!?!" Jack asked a little surprised his mind wondering as to why the President would want to do that.

"Jack, are you going to be ok with all this. It isn't exactly your strong point."

Before Jack could answer Sam came in. "I have briefed the troops on the president's arrival and everyone is pitching in to get the place in top shape." She said before bitting her lip and glancing at Daniel. Clearly she had similar concerns as Daniel had about how Jack was going to handle all this.

"Great" Jack said trying to sound confident but failing miserably.

Daniel just shrugged at Sam.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Cassie was sitting in the lab trying to translate a text that Daniel had collected last time he was off world. It was proving to be quite challenging. She had been at it for hours and was getting nowhere. She decided that it was time for coffee so she headed out to the mess. Passing by Jack's office she popped her head in to see if he was there. He was sitting at his desk alone with his head in his hand.

_Uh oh!_

She tapped lightly on the door so not to startle him and he popped his head up to see who was there.

"Are you ok?" She questioned moving into the office further.

He looked up miserably and said "The president is coming." his head flopped back down.

"Oh dear!" she said without thinking.

"Thanks!" he shot back sarcastically.

_Woops!_

"You know what I mean. Look the president wouldn't have even given you this job if he didn't strongly believe that you could do it. From what Daniel's said he is just curious as to what goes on around her on a day to day basis. You need to stop stressing!"

He smiled at her in thanks for the confidence. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I do believe my work here is done." She said cheekily "now I need coffee want to come with?"

"Sure why not."

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Wednesday came and Jack looked positively ill. Cassie ran into him in the hall as fidgeted with his dress uniform, he looked positively uncomfortable and whiter than a ghost.

Daniel even, was standing next to him, seemed a bit unnerved.

"Guys you need to calm down. Everything is going to be fine." She tried to reassure them as she slapped Jack's hand away from his tie and straightened it for him.

Sam came up to them then in full dress uniform. "Sir, the presidential party have just arrived at the surface."

"Thanks Carter."

"That's my queue to make myself gone. Good luck guys.... And Jack, Breathe." said Cassie.

With that she made her way back to the lab. She had plenty of work to keep her occupied until she met the president tomorrow afternoon at the briefing with the rest of SG-1.


	3. A coming together

Chapter 3

**A COMING TOGETHER**

Major Paul Davis stood as still as a statue until the presidential party had past through the gate on their visit to the Alpha site. He was thankful for the few hours break between now and the President's return. It would give him time to relax and gather his thoughts for the briefing later that afternoon. He had been dreading the day that the President would ask to visit Stargate Command and it had come last Friday just as he was about to leave for the weekend. He had spent the entire five days after that organizing it. After what happened the last time a President had asked to see the SGC he wanted to make sure nothing could go wrong. He had been doing well until the President requested that he go off world during his trip. For some reason it scared him to death that the President would want to do something so reckless but then the man had always seemed to have a rather carefree out look on all aspects of his life, even during his campaign.

The Alpha site administration had told him that they would look after the President during his stay and he had taken plenty of security with him. In fact the President had told him to stay behind and to 'chill out'.

First thing to do once the gate shut down was to get some food. So he headed out toward the mess hall.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Cassie was getting to that stage of the day when her stomach was starting to protest to the lack of food in it. It was after all nearly one in the afternoon. The only problem was that no matter how much she looked at the parchment in front of her she got the distinct impression that the answer to what she was looking for was right under her nose and she dare not leave it just in case she finally figured it out. She stared at it for another few minutes until she could no longer ignore her growling stomach. Picking up the parchment she headed out the lab door in the direction of the mess hall.

She moved down the hall still with her nose pointed down at the parchment. She had nearly made it when she smacked into something solid but soft. She lost her footing and fell backwards.

She was expecting to come into contact with the floor but felt herself being pulled back upright by two strong hands. Looking up she came face to face with one Major Davis looking worriedly down at her. She had of course seen him before but had never been introduced. He had been at her mother funeral. She had been told that he was representing the Pentagon and the President. And she had often heard Jack and Sam talk about him. They knew him quite well as they had gotten into quite a few scrapes with him and he had been a great help to Jack in his position as General. Apparently Jack thought that he was way too serious and needed to get a life.

Looking at him now Cassie couldn't help but think that Jack might be right. There was something behind the worry that she saw in his eyes that she just couldn't quite place. Not that she was by any means an expert on people. She tilted her head slightly to one side in wonder before it accrued to her that she must have been staring.

Snapping out of her daze but never losing eye contact with him she whispered

"Oh sorry! I ah wasn't paying attention to were I was going" she said.

"No, its fine." He replied politely as she righted her feet "Are you ok?" he questioned.

"Um yeah I think so" she replied when it suddenly accrued to her that he was still holding on to her. He must of realised this too because he abruptly let go of her and stepped back slightly. She couldn't help but shiver at the feeling of the sudden loss.

"Miss Frasier, right?" he questioned. Seemingly trying to pull him self back together.

"Yeah, but it's just Cassie." She said

"Major Davis, Paul. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same to you" she said and was about to continue when see heard Daniel calling from behind her.

"There you are I've been looking everywhere for you. Have you got that text from P3X-457?' he asked rushing up to her.

"Yeah it's... on the floor" she answered sheepishly turning around and finding it lying about three feet away from her and the Major. She bent down to pick it up and handed it to Daniel. To be honest she had forgotten all about it. He gave her a disapproving look and checked it for damage.

_Boy do I feel blond right now._

"Daniel it wasn't her fault we had a bit of a coming together in the hall" Paul said trying to come to Cassie's rescue.

"Oh are you ok? Maybe you should go get checked out by the doctor.' Daniel said looking closely at Cassie. All she could do was roll her eyes.

_Thanks a lot Major!_

"Don't be silly I didn't even hit the floor" she berated him matter of factually.

"Ok but any problems and promise me you will go straight there." He insisted not in the least bit convinced.

She rolled her eyes again "ok" she replied. Satisfied with her answer he turned slightly to the man on his right.

"Paul how is the visit going?" Daniel questioned but before Davis could respond Cassie piped in saying "I really need to get back to the lab so I'll leave you guys to it." She grabbed the parchment back from Daniel and moved away before either man could protest.

She moved quickly back to the lab and closed the door behind her. She leaned back against it and let out the breath she had been holding.

_What was that?_

She couldn't get the look that was in his eyes out of her head and it unnerved her. But what was even more confusing was the feeling of loss that she had felt when he had let her go.

_No! Stop thinking like that Frasier. You don't have time for such things!_

The look in his eyes had seemed more than just loneliness, something that Sam had said about him in defence to a comment Jack had made about the Major being uptight. If she remembered correctly they had asked him to go for after work drinks on a number of occasions. He had apparently refused them every time saying he had a lot of work to do before returning to Washington. But her mother used to go sometimes but said that even being great friends with SG1 she felt like an outsider on such occasions. No wonder Major Davis declined.

_Oh well I guess I'll find out if and when I need to know. _She reasoned with herself and moved back over to where she had been working.

A little later Daniel turned up with Jack in tow.

"Hey Cass, what you up to?" Jack asked.

Cassie looked up from the book she was reading "do you really want know?" she questioned.

"Not really, no" he replied

"Didn't think so"

"Here" Daniel piped up handing her a plate with a sandwich on it. "You never did get to eat anything before. You ran off so quickly, you ok?"

"Yeah, just...forgot about eating" she lied badly and Daniel knew it. He looked at her but decided not to push the issue too far. He knew something had past between Cassie and Paul. He just wasn't sure what. Paul had certainly seemed shaken from his normal composed self just after she had run off and Cassie was much the same now.

"So Jack, how goes the President's visit?" she asked, needed to change the current topic of conversation before Daniel could go off on a tangent.

"Huh ok. He's due back in about half an hour. So we will debrief in about two hours. I'll catch you two there. Ok?"

"Ok" Daniel answered and Jack headed out the lab door.

"Cassie...." Daniel started.

"There is nothing wrong Daniel, I was just startled. You know when you have one of those falling dreams, except I didn't fall thanks to Major Davis. I'm fine, end of story." She interrupted before he could get going.

"Ok" he said giving up.

They continued to work for another 30 minutes until they heard the alert of an incoming wormhole. "That should be the return of the President, I better get up there see you in an hour up in the briefing room." Daniel said. Cassie nodded her reply and he left. Once he was out of sight she let out a shy of frustration.

_When are they going to stop worrying about me and let me live my life?_


	4. Of briefings barbies and stars

Chapter 4

**OF BRIEFS, BBQ AND STARS**

Cassie made her way to the debriefing room just above the control room. She entered to find Sam, Tealc and Daniel already seated at the long table in the centre of the room.

"Hi guys" she said cheerfully taking a seat.

Hey Cassie" Sam replied with the same enthusiasm "how's your day been."

"Not bad at all really, I've really made some progress on the latest writings you guys brought back." She chose to leave out the coming together in the hall with Major Davis. No doubt Daniel would fill Sam in later.

"Great…" before she could finish Jack walked in followed by several other people. Sam quickly stood up followed by Daniel and Tealc so Cassie did the same. Cassie immediately recognized one of them as Major Davis who made eye contact with her and offered a quick smile before turning his attention to the man that followed him in to the room.

'Mr. President I would like to introduce you to the members of SG-1. Colonel Samantha Carter, Dr Daniel Jackson and Tealc.' He said "and this Cassandra Frasier, Dr Jackson's assistant."

"Excellent nice to meet you all, but may I say you my dear look a little young to be working in a place such as this." He replied looking at Cassie.

Before she cold respond Jack jumped in to explain. "Sir, Cassie is not originally from around here. She was brought to earth when she was eight. She was adopted and raised by Dr Janet Frasier before she died"

"Oh, I remember meeting her once, before I was President of course. She was an amazing woman and I here she was a great asset to our planet." He replied gently

"Thank you Sir" Cassie responded quietly

"So shall we sit down already my feet are killing me." He said brightening up. Cassie could see how this guy got voted into office, the people just loved his attitude towards life. So carefree. She wished she could be like that. Even the people in this briefing room who were about to discuss the fate of this organization and that of the world seemed to relax a bit.

"When I was told of this facility and what you did down here, I must say, I thought that someone was pulling my leg. But now that I have seen it myself I can't begin to imagine the possibilities of what is out there. The Alpha site alone is ten times more impressive than what I thought this place would be like, I can't imagine what it must be like for those currently living on Atlantis. I have nothing but admiration for all you people."

"Thank you Sir, that means a lot." Replied Jack "does that mean we get to stay open for business?"

"Well I think that it is too late to shut you down. There are too many people out there that know we are here, but there a few things that I will speck to you about in private later on Jack."

"Bad things? Sir" he asked a little uneasy.

"Not at all."

They continued talking about various different things for about an hour and then the President announced he had a plane to catch. He got up to leave with his advisers following suit. Major Davis also got up to leave but was stopped by the President.

"Paul, I think it's about time you had a break. You're not expected back at the Pentagon until Monday week. Take a holiday."

Paul tried to protest but was silenced by the President once again.

"Major, I'm not letting you get on that plane so you better get used to the idea quick and enjoy the week off. Your job will be right were you left it next week."

He was going to argue but stopped himself when he realized that he would never win this battle. The President moved away and left the briefing room. Jack let out a huge breath.

"Thank god that is over. Barbeque at my place 4pm! Bring lots of beer!"

"Great. Hey Daniel do you want me to pick you up?" said Sam

"Sure" he said as he got up to leave and moved to the door with Sam and Tealc.

"Hey Paul you want to come?"

"I don't know, I've…."

"Got nothing else to do since you were just ordered to take a holiday. You're coming. Think of it as an order." Jack interrupted. "Cass you in?"

"Sure"

"Great see you there. Tealc you're with me."

And with that they left. Cassie got all her stuff together and headed to the surface to go home and change.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

When she got home she let herself in and threw her keys on the side. The house was deathly quiet as it usually was when she got home. She checked the answering machine for any messages. There were none. Moving in to the living room she switched on the CD player. It came to life filling the room with Dido's latest song. She headed upstairs to her room to change. If was quite warm out so she slipped in to a pair of denim pedal pushers and two different colour tank tops, one longer than the other. She pulled her dark hair into a butterfly clip in a messy up do and grabbed her pointy slip on shoes. Checking herself in the mirror before leaving the room she made her way back down stairs and moved into the kitchen.

Miss Mabel, her cat, sat on a chair at the breakfast bar and meowed in protest at being left all day one her own.

"Sorry sweetie, but mummy had a very busy day. She met the President. Are you hungry honey?" she said as she spooned some cat food in to the cats bowl.

Miss Mabel had been a gift just after her mother had died. Of all people it was Tealc who gave her to her. Janet had never been one for cats but Cassie loved them and welcomed the new addition to her family. Miss Mabel purred loudly as she dug into her supper. Cassie moved back through to the hallway and picked up her handbag pulling out her sunglasses and keys and headed back out to the car. Once out side she moved back out in to the street and headed for Jack's.

When she arrived at the cabin it seemed that everyone was already there. She knocked on the door and waited. About 10 seconds later the door flung open to reveal a very relaxed looking Jack O'Neill standing in the door.

"Hey there you are." He said then he through his head back and spoke back into the house "guys you can call off the search party, she's here."

He then stepped back to let her in to the house. "Every one's out back go on through." He followed her out the patio door to find every one sat in the sun. She pushed her sunglasses back on and moved out fully on to the deck.

"Hey guys. You weren't worried now were you?" She teased lightly. They all looked at her sheepishly.

_Yep they were. _

"Just missed you is all" Sam said trying to cover the concern she had had.

She was sitting next to Daniel on the out door sofa while Tealc was standing and seemed to be admiring the view. She then noticed that on one of the other chairs sat Major Davis.

"Major! You came!"

"I didn't really have much of a choice did I?" he said with a little humour.

"No you really didn't." She replied with a slight laugh.

"Hey Cass, can I get you something to drink?" Jack inquired behind her.

"Sure, um, lemonade if you have it"

"Coming right up!"

Cassie took the empty seat near Major Davis. "So did I miss anything?"

"Jack wants to play with the footy. He said something about three on three." Daniel said.

"Ah I think I'm going to seat that out." piped up Sam.

"But we will have uneven teams" Jack whined as he came back handing Cassie her drink.

"Us girls have plenty to talk about so you boys can play on your own. We will be the cheer squad." Cassie replied.

"Ok you can have your girly chat for a little while but then you two are joining us." said Jack, picking up the ball. "Come on you three." He said to the boys. They all looked a little disgruntled at doing this but all three got up anyway.

"Paul, you and Tealc against Me and Danny here." He said as he moved down the steps to the large lawn.

Sam and Cassie watched them follow Jack down and begin to play. As Cassie watched them she got the distinct impression that she was also been watched. She turned to Sam raising her eyebrow slightly.

"What?" she questioned

"Nothing…. Daniel told me about what happened earlier. You ok? He said you were spooked about something." Sam said with concern evident in her voice.

"I'm fine honestly. I just ran into the Major is all." Cassie replied

"Ok but you would tell me if something was bothering you, wouldn't you?"

"Yes." Seemingly accepting that response Sam went back to watching the game that was unfolding below them. Jack was currently trying to tackle Tealc to no avail.

Cassie took a deep breath not knowing how Sam would react to her next question.

"Sam, what do you know about Major Davis?" Sam turned back to her with questioning look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"I was just curious." She rushed to say hoping that Sam wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

"Um, well, not much. He has been the pentagon/SGC liaison for a few years now. He's a good officer."

"Yeah I know that but what about him as a person?"

"Cassie what's going on, why the sudden interest, what happened in that hall?"

"Nothing I'm just…." Cassie sighed "when we ran into each other today I just saw something in his eyes that just…. They were sad. More than sad. It just threw me."

"Well I've only ever seen him in a working environment. I don't think I've ever seen him truly smile."

"Mmm, well that was what was bothering me. Ok? Nothing to worry about. Let's go show these boys how to play this game." she said standing and removing her shoes.

"Ok" Sam agreed and they moved down the steps to the grass "I'm with Daniel and the General"

"Sounds good they're going to need all the help they can get." Cassie teased speaking a little louder so that the others could here them.

"Hey!" Jack protested.

"Cassandra is correct O'Neill, you are already losing quite badly" replied Tealc. To which Cassie laughed loudly.

They decided to start scoring again now that the girls had joined them. The first to 10 got waited on by the others for the rest of the evening. They played on until the score was 8/9 in favour of Cassie, Paul and Tealc. Tealc passed the ball to Paul who ran dodging Sam and threw the ball to Cassie when Jack came flying at him. Cassie then ran with Daniel close behind her. Paul managed to then tackle Daniel away from her and Tealc came up and picked her up and carried her to the imaginary 'touch down line' the others having no hope of getting the ball from her. He put her down and she put the ball down on the floor throwing her hands in the area in victory.

"Yeah" she screamed as Tealc and Paul gathered her up in a big hug to celebrate their win.

"Jack I do believe that I require another drink" she gloated to Jack as they calmed down.

"As you wish my lady, coming right up!" He replied moving into a low bow.

After the game of footy they all moved back up to the patio. Jack lit the barbeque and Sam went to rustle up some salad.

Cassie came up next to Jack and Daniel to check on how the meat was coming along. Jack threw his arm over her shoulders and smiled at her. "How's it going kiddo?"

"How many times do I have to say this? Don't call me that. It makes me feel like I'm six, which is weird because you didn't _know_ me when I was six."

"Sorry. You'll always be a kid to us"

"Don't I know it" she replied sarcastically. "So is this cow going to get any deader" she said pointing to the _very_ well done steak on the grill.

"Um nearly!" Jack grinned admiring his handy work.

"Salads are ready!" Sam announced coming out from the kitchen with bowls in hand followed by Major Davis also laden down with food. They placed it on the table and then took a seat as Jack brought over the meat.

"Dig in folks" he exclaimed.

With that they enjoyed their meal in the fading light of the day.

After dinner the air outside started to cool so they all moved in to the living room to watch a movie. Having Tealc there meant that it had to be Star Wars. Over the last five or six years Cassie had lost count of the times she had sat and watched this with Tealc but even she didn't tire of it. Jack had mumbled a complaint but had put it on anyway and they were now about an hour and a half into it. Cassie looked around the room at her family. Daniel was now reading a book. _Never was a fan were you Daniel, _Tealc was, as usual, deeply engrossed in the movie and Sam and Jack had both fallen asleep. Jack had his head thrown back against the couch while Sam was snuggled into his side. They often seemed to end up like this during a movie. It was the only time that they would ever let it happen, mainly because it was the only safe place to do so. They must have forgotten that it wasn't just the five of them here today. Major Davis, for his part didn't seemed to be bothered by it and just seemed to be watching the movie.

Cassie got up and decided to get some fresh air. Once on the back porch she moved around the side and climbed the ladder on the side of the house emerging on top of the house onto a small landing. There was another small couch up here that Jack used to look at the stars. The view of the night sky was always brilliant from the cabin due to there being no other lights in the area. She sat down and looked up at the sky in wonder.

She was broken from her trance when she heard the ladder squeak. She looked over to it to see Major Davis coming up to the platform.

"Hey there" he said a little uneasy "sorry I just wondered where you went. I can go if you want?" he turned to go back down.

"No. It's ok. Stay." She said moving over on the couch making room for him. He remained standing though.

"It's beautiful up here." He said

"Yeah looking up there kind of puts things in to perspective." She paused for a second deciding weather to broach the subject of Sam and Jack downstairs. Deciding to go with it she said "about downstairs…. um…. you..."

"My lips are sealed." he replied knowing what she was going to say.

At her questioning gaze he continued "It hasn't escaped my notice that the General and Colonel have feelings for each other. I have after all read every single mission report to come out of the mountain since the beginning of this program and been involved with several missions myself. I didn't know they had acted on them though."

"They haven't!" she jumped up to stand quickly "they just forget sometimes when it's just us, they…."

"It's ok. I'm glad they have found a way to be happy, even if they don't know it." He said, the sadness returning to his eyes.

"Sit with me. I'm trying to find Hunka." She said sitting down again and looking back up at the sky.

He obliged sitting next to her a little uncomfortably. He leaned back slightly and looked up at the sky full of stars. "Do you even know where to look?" he questioned

"Well Sam said it was part of that cluster over there near that really bright star." She said pointing above them.

"Do you miss it" he said looking at her

'It's hard to describe. Even though I was really young when I left and I don't remember a lot of it its like a slice of me is missing" She said still looking at the sky "I miss the openness of the village and the simpleness of our lives. Don't get me wrong I love it here, and I have a wonderful adopted family downstairs but it's so different here. So chaotic. So much has happened. My parents could never have imagined what was in store for us."

"You miss them?" he said then inwardly rolled his eyes at that statement. "Sorry, stupid question!"

To his surprise she looked at him and laughed slightly.

"Yeah I do but I'm doing ok."

"CASSIE!" voice echoed throws the air

"Aarh for crying out loud!" she suddenly exclaimed throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

"Come on, we better get back down there before they think we've been abducted by aliens." She leaned over the railing to seek out the voice that had called out to her.

"We're up here Jack."

"Oh…good" he replied from the bottom of the ladder.

They made their way back down the ladder and went back inside. The movie had now finished and everyone was in the kitchen with there hands around coffee cups.

"Hey there you are" said Sam

"So I was thinking that we could catch a movie tomorrow night in town. I hear that their showing the extended edition of **Lord of the Rings** **Return of the King** at the cinema." said Daniel continuing the conversation that had been taking place before they came back in.

"That sounds great Daniel." said Sam "Paul you can come right?"

"Well apparently I'm on holiday, so sure" he replied

"Its getting late we should be heading back" said Sam

"Wow your right look at the time." Cassie said looking at her watch.

With that they finished there drinks and got ready to leave. They all moved out the front to there individual cars.

"So I'll see you all tomorrow at the base then. We can organize a time from there."

They all agreed and made their way home.


	5. Another bump

Chapter 5

**ANOTHER BUMP**

Cassie woke far too early the next morning. She had tossed and turned all night thinking about the events of the previous day. She could not shake the look in Major Davis's eyes at the base in the morning, and the loneliness in his voice up on Jack's roof. What was more she couldn't help think that it mirrored her own feelings at times. Sure she had Sam, Jack, Tealc and Daniel. But they were like her relatives more than her friends. She felt like she needed more.

_This is getting me nowhere!_

She looked over at the clock to see it reading 5.30am. She groaned and threw her legs over the edge of the bed. Janet had never let her sleep in and out of habit when ever she woke up she immediately got up. Taking a look out the window she could see that the sun was just about to rise and the birds were already singing. Deciding that walking down to the roadhouse for some groceries wouldn't do her any harm she threw on her jogging clothes and headed down stairs.

Cassie walked past the few houses that made up the small parade of houses along the side of the road and then headed down the quiet highway for about half a kilometre to the roadhouse snuggled in the bush on the side of the road. Just next to the roadhouse was a small motel. It was owned by the parents of one of her only school friends. Nelson had befriended her when everyone else had abandoned her. They had a lot in common when it came to being outcasts. When the kids had found out that Nelson was gay they had turned on him bullying ruthlessly. But Cassie couldn't care less about Nelson's preference to men over women. As far as she was concerned it was one less thing to worry about your best friend falling in love with you. Mind you it was scary how well Nelson knew what she was thinking sometimes.

As she walked up to the motel she saw Nelson's mum fixing up the cleaning trolley and called out to her. "Good morning Ruth."

"Cassie, honey, how are you? You look well."

"Thanks. I'm great. Have you heard from Nelson? I got an email a few weeks ago but nothing since."

"A little. You know what he's like, sing up a storm in a little theatre in New York. He said that he would be coming back soon for a break so I'm looking forward to that."

"Great we will have a lot to catch up on then. How is business?" she inquired

"Pretty good. Few truckers, couple of hikers oh and an air force major. Lovely man. Very quiet though."

"A major? From the mountain?" Cassie could not help her heart speeding up a little.

_This is ridiculous, Frasier, pull your self together._

"He never said. They never do. Don't you work up there dear I'm sure you would know him. Major Davis is his name, I think."

_Crap! Please still be asleep!_

"Yes I do know him. Uh I really need to be moving I have a few things to get before I head to work. I'll talk to you soon, please give Nelson my love." She blurted out quickly. Hoping that Ruth didn't think anything to be to wrong. "I'll see you later"

"Ok dear, you take care" Ruth said cheerily busying herself once again with the cleaning cart.

Cassie entered the roadhouse moving to the grocery section, grabbed a basket and started to fill it with what she needed.

_Ok what is wrong with you? The woman barely mentioned his name and you practically ran for the nearest bomb shelter. (Bomb shelters? I have been hanging around Jack to long!) You were fine with the major last night what has changed? Arrgh!_

BANG!

Cassie ran straight into something and started to fall. Once again though, she was stopped half down by two strong hands.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." said a male voice.

Cassie looked up into to the eyes of one Major Paul Davis.


	6. I'm just having a good day!

Chapter 6

**I'M JUST HAVING A GOOD DAY**

_Oh for crying out loud!_ _The ONE person I DON'T want to see right now. Ok just breathe!._

"Um…."

_Yep! Cassie that was constructive!_

"Hi" Cassie said "sorry I was um… a million miles away"_ ok that's sort of the truth._ "You're up early."

"I could say the same about you." The Major replied helping Cassie right her feet. "I'm usually up at 5.30am to run before heading into work. I like to beat the traffic. Guess my internal clock hasn't registered that I'm on holiday."

As he was talking he started to pick up Cassie's groceries that hadn't faired as well as she had and were now decorating the isle floor.

"Oh you don't have to do that." She said also bending to pick up the milk. "I really should have been paying attention."

She reached for the bread just as he did and their hands brushed one another.

"Sorry" they both said to each other making eye contact. Cassie laughed uneasily trying to break the moment before either one of them became any more uncomfortable.

"So what are your plans for the day?" she asked.

"Well I'm just going to have a walk around this morning and then head to the base this afternoon."

Cassie couldn't help but grin at him. "What" he asked.

"Major what part of the word holiday do you not understand? It generally means staying _**away **_from the place you work." She teased.

"Please call me Paul. You're not in the air force. And I left something there yesterday that I might need. Besides I need to find out what was decided about tonight's movie."

"Ok what ever you say."

"You don't believe me." He said playfully.

"No not really. My mother was just like you. In fact I seriously believe that she used to leave things behind on purpose so that she would have an excuse to be there."

"Ok maybe I want to check a few things while I'm there but I wont be long and I have to go anyway so…" he looked up at her sheepishly and she couldn't help but laugh.

"So predictable." she said trying to control her outburst. "Wow I haven't laughed like that in ages. Thanks." The smile she got back was breathtaking.

"Well I'm glad that I could have been of some assistance. I'll see you at the base bit later then." He said.

"Ok. Bye." She said in return and he turned and walked away. She followed him up the isle slowly and when he got to the door and opened it he turned back round and smiled. She smiled back calling out "see ya" and he headed out.

_Wow! _She thought to herself as she turned spinning on the spot. _I think today is going to be a good day! _

Cassie then realized that she was still spinning and that the store attendant and the customer he was serving were staring at her. She stopped sheepishly and joined the queue to pay.

The whole time that she was walking home she was on cloud nine.

…………………………….

Just as she was swiping her card to enter the lift at the top of Cheyenne Mountain she heard some one call her name. She turned to see Daniel heading towards her. Well she thought it was Daniel, at the moment it was hard to tell because of the huge amount of books and paper work he was loaded down with.

"Hey Danny! Here let me help you" she said taking the some of the books off the top.

He looked at her inquisitively "you're in a good mood this morning." He said.

"I had a good start to the day." She replied.

"So Miss Mabel didn't end up in the next door neighbours' attic again then?"

"No thank god. The last thing I needed when I got home last night would have been to clamber around in old Mrs. Jeffery's attic in the middle of the night." They entered the lift and made there way down to the sublevel that their lab was. The door to the lift opened to let them exit and they found Sam waiting on the other side.

"Hey guys how are you?" Sam said as she also took more of the books off the top of Daniel's pile. "Good god Daniel where the hell did these all come from?" She quipped.

"Ah well I thought one of the books I had at home might help with parchment that Cassie and I are working on. But I couldn't remember which one it was so I brought them all."

The girls just looked at him in disbelief. "What" he said a little hurt.

They both just rolled their eyes at him and turned and headed to the lab. A little confused Daniel ran to catch up.

"You are so predictable Daniel." Sam said teasing him.

"Oh and your not" he fired back playfully.

"Point taken." she reasoned. All Cassie could do was laugh. That unfortunately got Sam's attention.

"You're in a very good mood today." She said a little surprised.

"Ok so now I have to be in a bad mood all the time" she teased. "I just have had a good morning is all."

"Good how?" Sam asked. Luckily at that precise moment Jack walked in Tealc in tow.

_Ah my hero!_ Cassie thought._ You may not be the best at giving advice, but you timing is impeccable._

"Morning folks! How is everyone?"

Good morning General. Fine thanks" Sam replied falling back into routine from the night before.

"Excellent! Danny boy how about you? Anything interesting going on that I should know about?"

"Um well the text that we are currently working…"

"Great" Jack cut him off before he got going. Cassie snorted to herself. Jack caught it and looked at her curiously. "You ok there kiddo?"

"Fine thanks. Don't call me that." she almost snickered.

He just grinned at her knowing how much it bugged her. "Right well I'll see you at lunch" he said and turned to leave. "Come on T, let's see what else is going on today." Sam threw Daniel and Cassie a knowing look and left as well. Cassie just shook her head in disbelief at all of them and started work on the parchment.

………………………………

Lunch came and for once it was Cassie that announced break time.

"Come on Daniel, I'm starving and the others will already be there." She said pulling the book he was reading out from under him.

"But…"

"Come on!" she said dragging him out the door.

"What has gotten into you today?" he asked as they entered the mess hall.

"Well I'm just having…"

"A good day. So you keep saying. What exactly made it a good day?" he said.

"Uh…" she started but she was interrupted.

"Daniel, did you have to drag her here again. Cassie you need to eat honey. You barely ate anything last night." Sam scolded her.

"Actually she dragged me." Daniel defended her, the confusion still apparent on his face.

"Oh well you better get something to eat then." Sam said slightly confused to.

Jack then entered the mess hall with Tealc and Major Davis. Paul noticed Cassie and gave her a quick smile before focussing his attention back on Jack.

"Hey look who I found sneaking round the base on his holiday. Did someone not explain the concept of 'holiday' to you Davis?" Jack said turning slightly to face the Major. Paul just looked at Cassie. Who in turn shoot him a look that said 'I told you so.'

_Predictable!_

"Huh well you're not the only one that I can't get to take a holiday." He said pointedly looking at both Daniel and Sam.

"Hey you and I both know that the minute that any one of us tries to take a holiday the Gould decide to attack or the Asgard show needing a favour." Sam protested.

"Well you maybe right but at least I actually _**leave**_ the base."

"Now you're just exaggerating." Daniel said.

Tealc seemed to be getting bored with the exchange that was taking place and all though Cassie found it amusing she was really starting to get rather hungry.

As if sensing what Tealc was thinking she said "I'm with you Tealc, lets eat!"

He merely bowed his head slightly and waited for her to pass him before following her.

On her way past Paul she couldn't help whispering "So predictable!" and shooting him a brilliant smile that was unseen by the others.

They got their food and headed back to the table that the others were sitting at Paul had also found something to eat and was sitting with them. They ate and chatted about the morning's events for a little while before Daniel piped up about the movie.

"So I checked the movie times and it's on at the out door cinema. It starts at 8pm but we can take a picnic and make a night of it if you like." he said.

"We haven't done that since Janet…." Jack started but realized what he was going to say.

Paul had stopped eating and immediately looked to Cassie to see what her reaction would be. It wasn't what he had expected.

"Sorry Kiddo I uh…"

"Jack will you please not call me that. And you can talk about mum in front of me you know. I'm not going to have a mental break down every time someone mentions her. I for one think that the out door movie is a very good idea. But I get to bring the dessert though."

"Ok. So we can meet there about 5pm then?" Daniel said.

Everyone agreed and went back to work.


	7. Troublesome cat!

Chapter 7

**TROUBLESOME CAT**

The rest of the day had past rather quickly even though Cassie had not got much work done. She had been distracted most of the day thinking about earlier. In all honesty she really didn't know what to think of earlier. She was completely confused about the whole thing. She knew that there was something going on in the back of her mind, and she knew it wasn't bad. She just didn't know what _**it**_ was.

Trying to forget about what was going on in her brain she made her way home about 4pm. It usually took her about 15mins to get home which would leave her plenty of time to change into something more comfortable and warmer and get the dessert together. She had decided earlier that day that she would walk to the outdoor cinema, as it was not that far. She loved to walk whenever she could. She found it relaxing and she loved how it bugged Nelson whenever they went out. He would bicker for hours about the point of inventing a car was so you didn't have to walk.

Cassie changed and made her way to collect the food and feed Miss Mabel. The only problem was that she was nowhere to be found. Cassie opened the backdoor and called her a few times but she never came. _Where are you, you pest? Oh well you'll just have to wait till I get home for your dinner. _Cassie closed and locked the back door and finished gathering the things that she needed.

Grabbing the picnic blanket out of the linen closet on the way through the hall she left the house and made her way down the street in the opposite direction than she had that morning.

By the time she had arrived she was actually about ten minutes late but couldn't see the others anywhere around. It didn't seem to be too busy so she found a place to sit and waited.

Another ten minutes later and her mobile phone started to beep signaling the arrival of a message.

_**Hi it's Jack, science nerds ACTUALLY made something work. All tied up here. Can't make it. See you tomorrow. Sam says sorry!**_

_WHAT! _That funny, panicked feeling that she had gotten that morning when she discovered that Paul was staying at the road house, suddenly returned.

Cassie immediately dialed Sam's lab number and waited for an answer. After about the tenth ring she finally picked up.

"Hello" Sam answered sounding slightly distracted

"What did they make work and can't it wait till Monday?" she tried to say calmly but failed.

"Cassie honey, it just switched itself on and it's really important that we stay and record the readings we are getting. I'm so sorry!"

"But what is it?" Cassie asked

"Well we don't really know. But we really need to stay and monitor it so you and Paul just go see the movie and we will catch up tomorrow. I'm so sorry if I had known…"

"No, it's ok. I'll see you tomorrow."

She hung up the phone and before she had had time too truly panic Paul came into view and made his way over to where she was standing.

"Hey sorry I'm late, got a little lost. Where is everyone? I thought I would the last to get here."

Forcing her self to calm down she replied "they Piked on us."

"Huh?"

"Some piece of technology turned its self on unexpectedly and they have to monitor it…. Well, Sam and Daniel have to monitor it. Jack and Tealc will be there to provide coffee and the likes." She said sarcastically.

"Oh. Um well we can cancel if you like" Paul said uneasily.

"Like hell we will!" She responded defiantly "If they want to sit and monitor some alien computer on a Friday night that ten other people are qualified to do that's fine, but I am going to enjoy myself at the movies and you are going to join me." She stated.

"Yes Ma'am" he replied playfully.

"Sorry, got a bit carried away there didn't I?"

"Not at all. It is after all the weekend. Come on lets get our tickets."

They purchased their tickets and made their way in to the park that the movie was being shown in.

"Unfortunately we will only have the dessert I brought to eat. Daniel and Sam were supposed to bring the rest."

"Mmm" Paul murmured back in thought "you find some where to sit and I will be right back" he said and moved away with out waiting for her to reply.

Slightly confused Cassie found a place on the grass and placed the blanket on the ground and sat down. A few minutes later Paul reappeared carrying what looked like a picnic basket.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Picnic" he stated whilst sitting near her.

"Where on earth did you get that from?"

"Oh I saw a booth selling ready made picnics on the way in. See it even comes with its own blanket." He replied proudly smiling at her. She couldn't help but smile back and took a peek inside the basket.

"Nice" she said with approval starting to pull things out. It was mainly made up with cheese and crackers, some salad and cold meats, with a bottle of wine also included. Setting it out on rug before them she said "dig in."

They started to eat, enjoying the silence for a while. That was until a group of five or six people walked past them.

"FREAK!" one shouted out.

Both Cassie and Paul looked up to see where the insult had come from. Cassie recognized them all immediately. Her eyes darkened slightly, but she just looked away and went back to eating. Paul looked at her slightly confused.

"What was that all about?" he asked her

"Nothing. They were just some kids from school. Nothing to worry about" she answered without looking up at him. His heart sped up and he felt himself suddenly become angry. He got up to move after the group but was stopped by a hand on his elbow gently pulling him back. He looked back to see Cassie, her eyes pleading with him to stay.

"Don't." she whispered. "It's really not worth it. They will only start up again, only worse."

"You shouldn't let them treat you like that. They have no right." He said still angry.

"No they don't. But if there's one thing that I have learned about the Tauri, kids in particular, it's that they attack anything they don't understand and they don't understand me."

"That still doesn't give them the right too treat you like that."

"I know, but that's not _**my**_ problem, it's theirs" she said looking him in the eye.

He was about to say something when the screen came to life with the adverts before the movie. She turned away to look at the screen signaling the end of the conversation. They watched the movie in silence and Cassie forgot about the earlier incident.

'**My friends. You bow to no one'**

Nearly 4 hours later and near the end of the movie, Paul snuck a look at Cassie to see tears silently spilling down her face.

"Hey" he whispered so as not to disturb the other moviegoers

She turned to him sheepishly and smiled though her tears. "Sorry. That line always gets me no matter how many times I see this movie."

All he could do was laugh quietly at her. She seemed to have forgotten the trouble from before and even though she was crying, the sparkle had returned to her eyes.

The movie finished up and as the credits rolled up and the music started to play, people all around them started to get up. Cassie packed up the picnic basket and Paul gathered the blanket before they started to move toward the entrance. As they neared the gate yet again some one yelled out "FREAK!"

Paul swung around to see where the insult had come from and found a group of ten young adults about five meters away. There was a boy sitting in the middle surrounded by four or five girls, all blondes. He started over towards them reaching them just before Cassie got in front of him.

"Oh I'm so scared. Freak got herself a boyfriend!" the boy said sarcastically. The girls around him laughed looking Cassie up and down.

_Oh that does it!_

"Dominic, for just once will you put a sock in it because, I for one, am sick to death of your constant berating. Grow up! You're nearly 21 years old for Cryin'out loud."

"You're a loser and a freak and you always will be!" the boy retorted.

Paul was now beyond angry and his fist was clenched tight. He tried to move forward again but Cassie stopped him.

"That I might be, you after all would know been as you and I were an item for, let me think, a good year and a half… Oh did your new friends not know that? Oh well they do now!""

To this Dominic's eyes went wide and the girls sitting around him backed off a bit looking up in discussed.

Cassie smiled sweetly at Dominic and simply stated "Karma" then turned and walked away pushing Paul lightly as she went. Paul kept eye contact a little longer with the boy and then refocused his attention on Cassie who had a most triumphant smile on her face.

"That was fun. Did you see the look on his face?"

"You are amazing you know that.' He replied "I was about ready to deck the guy and you found the perfect way to embarrass him and dislodge him from their little social group and didn't even lay a finger on him."

"Violence should only be used as a last resort. You giving him a black eye, though very valiant in defending my honor, would have only lasted a day or two. What I just pulled will take him months if ever to fix. Besides I did hit him, when he broke off our relationship once he got what he wanted. I broke his nose. Thank you though." She said gratefully.

Paul just smiled at her and said "come on, I'll walk you home."

"Ah my hero!" she answered playfully as they made their way down the street.

It took them a good twenty minutes to walk back to Cassie's street and they talked for most of that time. They conversed about everything from the military to sport. Something that Cassie didn't know a great deal about other than the games that she and the others played in the garden sometimes. The uneasiness that had been felt earlier in the day had gone and she felt almost at peace. When they reached her gate she turned to thank him for a great night when Mrs. Jeffery's voice could be heard calling to her. They both turned to the neighbor's house to see her coming toward them.

"Cassie dear, I think Miss Mabel is in the roof again."

_Ahh. I'm going to kill that cat!_

"I better go." she said to Paul "I'm coming Mrs. Jeffery's."

"Hey I might be able to help." Paul said following her in to Mrs. Jeffery's house.

They moved down the hall to the manhole in the roof.

"I hate it when she gets up there. I just wish I knew how she was getting in."

Cassie made to start climbing up the ladder but Paul stopped her. "That roof doesn't look all that safe besides your wearing a skirt and you'll scratch your knees. I'll go."

"Thanks" she said smiling at him. He went up the ladder and disappeared in to the roof cavity. She could here a lot of movement above her and the occasionally 'here kitty' until she heard something topple over and an "ow"

"Paul, are you ok?' She asked worriedly.

Instead of an answer he reappeared rubbing his head with one hand and a rather annoyed looking cat in the other. All Cassie could do was laugh.

"My hero!" she exclaimed for the second time in an hour. Paul came all the way down the ladder and handed her the cat, giving Cassie a better look at his head.

"Ow that's going to bruise. Come on we can get you some ice for it next door." She replied and he just nodded in agreement. Cassie informed Mrs. Jeffery's that the cat extraction had been completed and they made their way back to Cassie's house. After she had let them in and deposited the disgraced cat on the couch he moved into the kitchen with Paul in tow.

"You know my head will be fine" he said in slight protest.

"Don't be silly! You should know that any bump should have a cold press administered ASAP to stop bruising. Now sit." She ordered pointing at the breakfast bench stool. Rather than argue he just sat and watched her. She headed to the freezer and retrieved some ice and wrapped it in a tea towel before crushing it a little. Then she moved back over to Paul.

"This might be a little cold." she said as she pressed it slightly to his forehead and held it there.

It then occurred to her how close she was to him and that feeling from before started to surface once again. A little uneasy with the silence that seemed to have fallen on the room she started to talk.

"You know I have searched high and low for how she keeps getting in to that roof but with out fail at least twice a week see ends up in there. No one else has any trouble with her except pour Mrs. Jeffery's. I should have known that that was where she was when she didn't come home for her dinner bef…'

Whilst Cassie had gone on her little tirade of a speech Paul had just stared at her and, unbenost to her, taken the ice out of her hand and put it down. He reached forward to her and without even thinking kissed her.

Cassie didn't know what to do. She just froze. She had not expected him to do anything like that. He released her and looked away.

"I ah… I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that. I better go…."

_Oh my god!_

It was as if the whole situation happened in slow motion. And it hit her like a ton of bricks. Out of the blue all of the emotions and feelings that she had been experiencing over the last few days all made perfect sense. She had fallen head over heels for him and hadn't even known it. And if she wasn't careful and act quick he was going to walk out of her life forever.

_Think quick Frasier!_

He started to get up to leave but before he had a chance to she blocked his way and did the only thing that came to mind.

She kissed him back. He seemed stunned at first but soon recovered and responded, deepening the kiss. He pulled her close to him circling his arms around her waist. Her own arms came up around his neck.

They broke apart and looked at each other. Paul brought his forehead to rest on Cassie's. Cassie gave a slightly uneasy smile.

"I have to admit I have wanted to do that since this morning in the store." He whispered breaking the tension. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah" she whispered back smiling a little more. Miss Mabel took this moment to jump up on the breakfast bench and announce that she was hungry.

"I really should be going. But I think we should talk tomorrow, ok?" He said reluctantly letting her go.

"Sure that would be great."

They walked to the front door Paul just in front of her. She opened the door and he made to leave but turned around to face her again. He leaned down and kissed her again lightly. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight. Be careful walking back."

"I will" he replied and turned to walk away.

"Paul" she called out causing him to turn back around "thank you for a wonderful night."

"No, thank you" he said and made his way down the road. She watched him for a while before dreamily closing the door and leaning against it.

_Wow! Ok… breath__e! _

Then something dawned on her, her eyes widening in worry.

_How am I going to tell the others?_


	8. A messy situation! litarally!

Chapter 8

**A MESSY SITUATION! LITERAL****lY!**

Cassie had spent most of the night lying awake thinking about what had happened that night. She was, if possible more confused than before. _What now!_ came to mind the most often. Not to mention what to say to the others. After hours of tossing and turning she decided that the best course of action was to say nothing to the others at least until she had spoken to Paul. She finally fell asleep about 4am.

She woke up to someone prodding her in the shoulder. Slowly opening her eyes she nearly jumped out of bed to find Sam sitting next to her with a very worried look on her face.

"Hey sweetie. I knocked but there was no answer. It's not like you to sleep in."

"What! What time is it?" she said looking around for the clock.

_I never sleep in!_

"It's nearly ten am. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine. What are you doing here?" Cassie said still completely disorientated from the abrupt awakening.

"It's Saturday silly. Chess!" Sam said with a brilliant smile on her face.

_Oh crap! I forgot about that!_

"Yes, Right! Chess!" Cassie said still a little distracted.

"Honey are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, Fine."_ think quick! _"Just a late night is all."

"Sorry about that. The Major wasn't too much of a drag was he?" Sam said apologetically.

"Huh! No! He was fine… um… long movie" she said not knowing what to say.

_This is going to be harder than I thought._

"Why don't you get the chess board set up in the kitchen and I'll just sort myself out a bit here." Cassie said trying to get rid of Sam so that she could take a few minutes to gather her thoughts.

"Sounds good, I'll see you downstairs" Sam said and left.

Cassie threw herself back down onto the bed shying deeply.

_That was close._

Cassie freshened up and threw on a singlet and track pants before heading down stairs to the kitchen. When she entered she found the board already to go on the kitchen bench. Sam was by the kettle and Miss Mabel was currently playing with one of the chess pieces, pushing it round the board. Cassie Moved over to where Sam was and looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

"I thought you might need this." Sam said looking back over her shoulder and handing Cassie a cup of hot coffee.

"Ah, your blood is worth bottling!" Cassie exclaimed taking it from her.

Sam watched her take a sip and relish in the taste. She wasn't sure why but Cassie seemed to look different today. Wondering weather to test the waters she asked.

"So how did it go last night?"

Cassie looked over the rim of the coffee cup at Sam and regarded her carefully

_Careful Frasier she's fishing for information._

"Not much to tell really, we sat, we eat, we watched a movie." Cassie said shrugging and taking a seat at the table.

"That's all? You look different today, what happened?" Sam pushed.

"Different in what way?" Cassie challenged.

"You look…. Happier"

"Ok so now I can't be happy? I was just as happy yesterday." she retorted slightly angry. Taking in the look she was getting from Sam she gave in "OK! While we were at the movies we ran into Dominic and his groupies, and let's just say I finally got my own back after all these years. I'm feeling quite victorious."

"Breaking his nose wasn't satisfaction enough? How did you do that exactly? You didn't hit him again did you?" Sam looked a little worried.

"No. But Paul would if he had had the chance." Sam seemed to sit up a little straighter at that comment.

_Oops! Think!_

"You know what men are like with their incessant need to defend a woman's honor continually." she said offhandedly and rolling her eyes. Sam seemed to except this and waited for her to continue.

"No. I just managed to undermine his position within his little social circle in just one sentence. I didn't lay a finger on him. Promise!"

"Oh, good. Shall we start this game then, before Miss Mabel destroys the entire board game?"

"Excellent. Sounds good to me." Cassie said ruffling up the cats coat before moving her from the board and placing her on her lap. They played for several hours before Sam said that she had to head back to the SGC and check on the progress of the artifact.

As Cassie was seeing Sam to the door she asked "have you worked out what it does yet?"

"No. Daniel is trying to decipher the writings on the side before we give it anymore power. You know our track record, we start them up and then they try to blow the Base up."

"Ah. Good plan. Let Daniel know that if he needs any help ring me."

"I will. Enjoy the rest of your day." Sam said heading down the path.

"Do my best."

Cassie waited until Sam had driven off and closed the door behind her. She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again Miss Mabel was sat in front of her, looking up at her.

"What?" Cassie directed at her. "I didn't lie… I just left out certain details that she didn't need to know."

The cat simply gave her a disapproving look and walked away.

_I'm dead! I can't even convince the CAT!_

Deciding not to think about it anymore she moved back into the kitchen and set about cleaning the house like she did every Saturday.

………..

Finishing up in the kitchen she looked through the window at the front garden. She had made note a few days ago that Janet's rose bed needed weeding. Looking up at the sky she decided that a spot of gardening would fill in her afternoon quite nicely.

After fetching the tools from the garage she set herself up by the rose bed and regarded the plants with wonder.

_Where to start?_

The roses had been Janet's pride and joy and Cassie had adopted her fondness for them when she had first come to earth. Except the red ones, Janet's coffin had been covered in red roses and it had upset Cassie s much that she had come straight home and pulled all the red rose plants up, throwing them away. She began weeding around the base of the plants. Trotting over to see what Cassie was doing, Miss Mabel brushed up against her.

"Hey beautiful, where have you been?" Cassie said scratching the cat's head. Miss Mabel just meowed at her and sniffed the soil that Cassie had disturbed whilst digging. It didn't take her long to find a bug to chase and it wasn't long before she was running around like a headless chook having a mad half hour. Cassie couldn't help but laugh at the cat rolling around in the dirt.

Cassie finished the weeding and went about pruning the roses. The roses were in full flower so she cut a few off to put in the kitchen window. Fetching some water, she watered the plants. Miss Mabel thought this was great and proceeded to roll in the mud that had formed. Cassie tried to catch her but she moved to quick and Cassie ended up covered in mud too.

"AHHH" she exclaimed but was distracted by some one laughing at her off to the side. She turned to look at the gate and saw Paul in absolute stitches on the other side. She froze.

He came through the gate still chuckling to him self. Recovering from her frozen state Cassie just rolled her eyes and flicked some water at him.

"Hey!" he said in protest

In response she just flicked more water at him as she got up.

"Serves you right for laughing at me" she teased him with a twinkle in her eye that said 'I'm up to no good'.

She circled around him with a wide berth, the watering can still in her hand. He began to worry about what she was going to do so he started to move with her so she couldn't get close to him. She flicked him again, and while she was distracted he grabbed her, the water going all over the both of them. He playfully tackled her to the ground trying to tickle her. They rolled around on the grass until they came to a stop, Cassie pinned beneath him. She giggled as he tickled her ruthlessly trying to fend off his hands. He stilled his movements and focused his attention on her face, shifting his weight onto his elbows. She was still giggling but calmed herself when she relised that he was looking at her.

"Hey there" she whispered making eye contact.

"Hey" he replied, but didn't seem to be paying attention. He lowered himself to her face and tentivley kissed her. She responded, kissing him back. But before they got carried away Miss Mabel nuzzled her head between them, meowing as if to say 'get a room.'

Cassie laughed slightly and looked around to see the neighbor on the other side of her to Mrs. Jeffery's looking over the fence, a very disapproving look on her face.

"Thanks Mabel" she whispered to the cat as Paul pulled away and helped her to her feet.

"Hello Mrs. Constantine" she said sweetly plastering a fake smile on her face. "Nice day for it, don't you think?" grabbing Paul's hand and swinging it back a forth for show.

Mrs. Constantine's looked horrified and turned her nose up at them, walking away.

_Stupid old bat!_

"Aaahh, the whole street will know about that before nightfall." Cassie said to Paul as she gathered up her tools and put them back in the garage. "That woman has been trying to get rid of me for years. Mum and she were always at odds about something. She has been against me staying here on my own since Mum died."

He remained silent until she came out of the garage. "Let her think what ever she wants. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter anyway." He simply said.

She regarded he a moment. There was more to that comment but she wasn't sure what. Deciding to let it go she said "You're right, it's her problem not ours. Come on lets get cleaned up." She said looking down at the mud that was starting to dry on both herself and him.

"Sounds good" He said looking at himself "Then I think we need to talk about a few things." All the fun and laughter had suddenly gone from his voice and eyes and had been replaced with the sadness she had seen at the first meeting.

_This doesn't look good!_

"Um, ok, sure." She replied a little uneasy. She grabbed the flowers that she had taken from the rose bush and led the way into the house.

_Stay calm Cassie…__ Oh God!_


	9. Sorting through the confusion

Chapter 9

**SORTING THROUGH**** THE CONFUSION**

Cassie was freaking out.

She willed herself to calm down and made her way through the house to the laundry cupboard. Fishing through it she found a clean button down shirt for Paul.

"Here this should fit you. Um there's a bathroom at the top of the stairs that you can use to get cleaned up." She said handing him the shirt.

He looked at the shirt and then at her questioningly.

"It belongs to Nelson, my best friend. He leaves some clothes here sometimes."

He didn't say anything but just nodded and turned away, heading up the stairs.

_That sounded bad! This could get a little awkward! This may take some explaining!_

Just then the phone rang.

_Ah! What now!_

She picked it up and answered it. "Hello."

"Hello my love, you never call, you never write. One would think that you had fallen off the face of the earth."

Speck of the devil

"Hi Nelson, one could say the same of you." Cassie said as she moved over to the sink to fetch a vase from the cupboard.

"I know. Forgive me…please?"

"You're forgiven. So how is the big city? Are you famous yet?"

"Well that isn't going quite to plan. The show has been cancelled."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. What are you going to do now?"

"Well there are few auditions going around that I might try out for, but I really don't know."

"Could always come home and see us. We miss you"

"I know but you know how much the parentals drive me nuts."

"Well if you need to you can always stay with me for a few days, but go after those parts you never know"

"Oh! I love you" he exclaimed

"I love you too." As she said this she heard some one clear their throat behind her.

Of all the conversations to walk in on!

"Ah Nelson I've got to go. Someone's here."

"Who's there? CASSIE! Tell me you haven't replaced me. Who is it?"

Cassie rolled her eyes "Drama Queen. Talk to you later. Bye." With that she hung up.

Then addressing Paul she stated "Nelson." pointing to the phone.

"Nelson." He stated back.

"Yep… Um just give me a minute to change. Why don't you put the kettle on?"

"Ok." He said taking the vase that she still had in her hand.

Cassie ran up the stair two at a time and raced into her bedroom. She grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. She quickly cleaned up and changed. She stilled herself to take a breath. She needed to focus. There was a glass next to the sink. Clearing her mind she tried concentrating on it and willed it to lift off the counter. She didn't have to wait long for it to float just in front of her. She allowed it to spin in midair for a few moments before pulling it towards her hand.

Using the glass to have a drink of water she put it back where it had been standing. She then grabbed her hairbrush and combed her hair through on the way down the stairs. She made it into the kitchen just as the kettle started singing.

"Wow that was quick." Paul stated "tea or coffee?"

"You don't have to do that, I'll do it."

She took over what he was doing and he moved back to the kitchen bench that he had sat on the night before and placed the flowers that she had brought in into the vase.

"These really are quite beautiful" stated he trying to break the tension in room that had been building ever since they had come in from outside. "But you only have the two colors', yellow and peach."

"I pulled up the red ones" She simply said.

He frowned at the response "Why?"

"I don't like them." She said turning back to him while she waited for the kettle to boil.

He still looked confused. "I don't think I've ever met a girl who didn't like red roses."

"When Mum died, they covered her coffin in red roses. At the time I was so distraught at her been taken from me that when I got home from the funeral I sort of flew into a bit of a rage and pulled up all the red ones out of the front garden. I have dealt with her death now but it's not something that I really like to be reminded of. Red roses still remind me."

He nodded in understanding "Sorry, didn't mean to bring up bad memories." He apologized.

"It's ok, like I said I've dealt with it… So…" Cassie said, but not knowing what to say afterwards. "Coffee?"

"Sure." The tension in the room was becoming unbearable. She couldn't believe how things seemed to have changed so drastically in the space of about fifteen minutes. One minute they were rolling around on the grass having a tickle fight, and the next they were talking about death and could barely stand the tension of being in the same room as each other.

This will never do. Oh well you know what the say about grabbing a bulls horns…

"You regret what happened last night." She stated placing a cup of coffee in front of him.

"No! I…." He started but seemed lost for words.

Cassie remained silent and just sat down across from him.

"This whole situation just took me by surprise. I never thought that this would happen. I am just confused." He confessed. "I don't know how to go forward from here. I mean how are the others going to react when they find out about this? You're so young and….."

_Oh! Hell no!_ She had had too much of this from the others.

"Stop right there." She said a little angrily. He made eye contact with her for the first time since she had come back into the room. "The last thing I need now is for you to start treating me like everyone else. I am not a little kid anymore. I'm nearly 21, that makes me a legal adult on this planet and if that's not good enough for you, then on Hunka I'd most probably be married with a children by now. Please. Don't treat me like they do. I couldn't bear it." She said whispering the last part.

"Cassie, believe me. I don't think that at all. I would never do that to you" He said cupping her face with his hand. "But it's what the others are going to think when they find out. I just think that you would be better off with someone your own age. Your friend for instance" He said nodding at the phone.

"You think I should be with Nelson?" she said with confusion and surprise, pulling away from him. "No! You've got this all wrong Paul. Nelson is Ruth's son, the motel owner. Surely she has told you about him. She tells everyone. He's GAY!"

He looked at her confused. Then with realization of what he had just heard he replied "Oh"

"You know, I'm just as confused about this as you are, I spent the who night tossing and turning, going over what happened last night. But when I'm with you everything becomes a little clearer somehow. I don't want to throw that away. Please don't run from this." She begged him placing her hand over his.

"I don't want to keep secrets from the others, but at the end of the day it really isn't any of their business. We can just keep this to ourselves until we decide where we want to take this. We can take it slow, get to know each other and see how we go. What do you say?"

"Daniel's right when he says it's really easy to forget how old you really are. You are far too wise and reasonable to be twenty-one." he said in amazement, not answering the question, but smiling a little.

"Yeah I get that all the time." She said returning the smile. He regarded her in deep thought.

"Ok look. This is not going to be easy. For a start I work in Washington. And I've got some issues that I have to work through as well." He paused to think about what he had just said but then continued. "But your right, when I'm near you everything is a little clearer and now that the 'Nelson issue' is sorted, I think we could give it a go."

Cassie didn't know what to do but squeal and throw her arms around him in a tight hug.

She pulled back a little and looked him in the eye. "You were jealous!"

"Of what?" he replied innocently.

"Of Nelson!" she laughed.

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"I most defiantly am not." He said as he started tickling her again, the gleam returning to his eyes.

"Aahh. No stop that." She tried to say but she kept laughing. She regained her balance and pulled him in to a kiss, stilling his movements. He deepened the kiss a little, relishing in her. He broke away and looked at her.

"You have no idea what you do to me." He whispered leaning his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes and shifted to snuggle into his neck.

"Probably about the same as what you do to me." She replied. "I know this will be hard. I've already fought off Sam's questions once this morning, but we can do this."

"Yes, we can" he replied hugging her tighter.

Just as they were getting comfortable the phone rang again.

Now what?!? 


	10. Of artifacts fishing and icecream

Chapter 10

**OF ARTIFACTS, FISHING AND ICECREAM**

Cassie grabbed the phone and answered it. "Hello"

"Oh good you're home, would you be able to spare a few hours?" Daniel said, sound rather distracted.

"Good afternoon to you too Daniel." She said sarcastically.

"Oh yes, right, hi, are you free to help me with a translation?" He said. She could just picture him in the lab, speakerphone on; book in hand and looking at the artifact in question. All she could do was roll her eyes.

Whilst Cassie was on the phone, Paul's mobile also rang. He answered to hear Jack's voice on the other end. His eyes widened and he mouthed to Cassie who the caller was. She almost had a heart attack. Trying to recover she turned her attention back to her own phone call. One was enough to deal with at the moment.

"Daniel its three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, you shouldn't even be there, can't it wait till Monday?"

"Well if you're busy I guess it can wait." He said a little disappointed.

……………………………

Paul didn't know what to do. Deciding to just ask the man what he wanted seemed to be the most logical answer. "General, what can I do for you?"

"Well it occurred to me that living in Washington and working your entire waking hours that you probably have never been fishing. I happen to love fishing. It also occurred to me that I don't know very much about the man who reports back to the president about me so why don't you come up to the cabin for a go with the good old rod?"

Paul was speechless. He looked to Cassie for help but she had a deflated look on her face "look Daniel, I'll come in……. no its ok I'll be there shortly. Bye."

"Looks like I'm free to do that General."

"Excellent. Tell me Major, do you like the Simpsons?"

"Yeah I guess"

"Great, see you in about half and hour then. Bye"

"Sure goodbye sir." He said and hung up, a little bewildered by the conversation. He looked up to see Cassie looking directly at him hands on hips.

"He conned you in to going fishing, didn't he?" she said

"Um…" but before he could answer she interrupted him.

"Ok now I have to go into work to look at this thing that is just SO important that it can't wait until Monday." She said sarcastically. "Now trust me when I say… 1. Don't mention anything about last night or Dominic. 2. Don't at anytime complain about there being no fish to actually be caught in that lake and 3. If you value your life agree with everything that he says regarding the Simpsons. He judges a person's character on their knowledge of that show alone."

"What makes you say that?" he asked perplexed.

"Is there a single Gould in this universe that he likes?"

"No."

"And why do you think that is?"

"I don't know." He was completely confused as to where she was going with this.

"Because none of them have ever seen an episode of the Simpsons."

"Oh, right." He considered this _actually that makes a lot of sense. _He thought to himself.

"Great well um I'll…" she seemed lost for words as they moved to the front door.

"See you tonight?" he prodded

"Yeah that would be great. You're likely to get away before me so here is my pager number. That way only I will answer it."

"Thanks." he said opening the front door. He stepped out and turned around reaching up and kissed her quickly before turning and walking down to his car.

After he had gone she locked up the house and headed to the base.

…………………………….

When she got there Daniel and Sam were just staring at the machine that had the writings on it.

"No luck, huh?" She said coming to stand next them both.

"Nope, Daniel seems to think that it is part ancient, part Gould, part something else. But he hasn't a clue what." Sam answered. Daniel was deep in thought.

"Ok well let's have a look then."

……………………………..

Six hours later they had gotten nowhere. Sam had actually fallen asleep on the desk and Daniel was rubbing away the tiredness from his eyes.

Cassie looked at her watch at the time. _9.30pm! Ok now I'm worried. He should have rung by now._

Daniel was still deep in thought, looking over the inscriptions on the artifact/machine. Cassie had been staring at the machine for hours and she didn't know why, but it seemed familiar to her. She had racked her brain trying to think where from but came up with nothing._ Maybe I was just there when they brought it threw the gate. _Shrugging it off she crouched down next to him.

"Daniel I really think that there's nothing more we can do here until we get some rest. It will still be here on Monday." She said resting her hand on his arm. He sighed looking completely deflated. He glanced over at Sam who was still asleep.

"You're right. Come on lets pack up." He said getting up and moving over to Sam.

Just then in walked the last person Cassie was expecting. Jack and Paul.

_Well I didn't see that one coming. What the hell are they doing here?_

"Hey campers! We have just spent the last four glorious hours fishing by a peaceful lake." Jack announced slapping Paul on the back. "What about you guys, find anything interesting.?" He continued taking in the sight of Sam asleep. Pointing at her he said "THAT interesting huh?"

"Huh what?" said a rather groggy looking Sam. "Sir? What are you doing here?"

_My question exactly!_

"Well… Paul and I unfortunately didn't catch anything so we are pretty hungry. We also decided that you three probably hadn't eaten either so we thought we would come and drag you away from what ever this thing is and get something to eat." He explained, flapping his hand at the machine in front of them. "Where's T?" he asked off handedly.

"He came in a little while ago but there was nothing for him to do so he left. He said something about watching Star Wars." Cassie replied. "I for one am starving. Food sounds great."

"Excellent! We'll go find Tealc. Meet you three up top in 15minutes?"

"Sure." Said Daniel

"Ok" said Sam.

Cassie just nodded and smiled, continuing to collect her things.

…………………

They all met on the surface and after much discussion as to what everyone wanted to eat, they decided on the food court at the mall. That way everyone got what they wanted.

After they had decided that they spent another 5 minutes deciding who was going with whom. It seemed to be a very difficult decision to make.

_Oh for cry'n out loud. Get in a car already. I'm starving._

They finally decided that Tealc and Paul would go with Jack, Daniel would go with Sam and Cassie would take her own car. The whole time that this discussion had been going on, Cassie had been trying to steal a glance off of Paul to no avail. She hadn't even been able make eye contact.

_Ok you don't have to completely ignore me._

Once they finally made it to the mall they made their way to the food court. It was still rather busy so they found a table first.

"I'll stay here and guard the table if you guys want to get your food." Cassie said taking a seat at the table.

"Thanks kiddo, we'll be right back." Jack said, walking away with Sam, Daniel and Tealc in tow.

"Don't call me that." Cassie called after them. Jack just threw a smile back at her and continued to move away.

ARGH! She breathed out in frustration. She hadn't noticed that Paul was still behind her, and as he walked paced her he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and turned and smiled at her as he moved away.

Daniel had turned back to look at Cassie and caught the exchange. He frowned slightly but let it go and turned in search of food.

She waited three or four minutes before Tealc returned, seating down across from her with a tray full of food. She just rolled her eyes at the pile of food.

"Cassandra. I was thinking that Monday morning would be a good opportunity for your next self defense lesson." He said as her dug into his food.

"That would be great Tealc, the more training the better and its Cassie… if you"re alright here I'm going to go get some food."

"I will be fine." He replied.

"Thanks Tealc."

She got up and headed to the Roast section of the food court. She knew just what she fancied and knew how much it would annoy Sam.

_To hell with it! It's my Favorite!_

"What you having?" a voice said from behind her. She turned to see Paul standing next to her with a tray in hand.

"Chip and Gravy." She announced proudly.

"That's nutritious." He commented

"Don't even start. Just wait five minutes and I will be getting a lecture of a lifetime from Sam." She replied throwing a glance back to their table.

They made their way back to the table where Daniel and Sam had returned and were eating their meals. Cassie sat down, Paul taking the seat next to her.

"Cassie, honey, that isn't really very healthy." Sam berated her.

Cassie turned her head slightly to Paul and threw him a look

What did I tell you?

Jack returned then and sat down at the head f the table next to Cassie and Sam.

"Oh chips and gravy!" he said excitedly, stealing a soaked chip and eating it. He gave Cassie a cheeky smile, but it was wiped away when her turned to Sam and received one hell of a glare.

"Don't encourage her." She said bluntly still staring at him.

"Come on Sam, I think Cassie is old enough to decide what she wants to eat." Daniel said in Cassie defense, but too was squashed by the same glare that Jack had received.

"Sorry" he mumbled looking away. Cassie could have sworn she felt Paul chuckle beside her but when she looked he appeared to be staying out of it and was just eating his dinner.

"You know Sam, I think that you may have spent just a little to much time with my mother. You have now perfected the 'mother look' to a tee. Cassie stated as she continued to eat her chips.

"I have not!" Sam squealed in response all of a sudden very conscious of the glare in question. Everyone at the table, including Paul, had been on the receiving end of the look that was being referred to. Every one on the base had, every time they had turned up at the infirmary with an injury to be treated.

"I believe that Cassandra is correct Colonel Carter." Tealc stated.

Sam just started at him in horror.

Recovering she turned to Cassie and relied "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you, Cass."

"I know, and I love you for it." Cassie replied smiling.

Just as they were finishing up Paul's mobile rang. Answering it quickly he spoke into it.

"Davis."

Pause

"What do you mean?"

Pause

"No, they can't do that."

Longer pause. The others listened in to see if they could pick up on the conversation.

"No I'll get the next flight out."

Cassie's heart sank. She lowered her head slightly, turning away from Paul and looking down at her, now melted ice cream. She knew that this would happen eventually she just didn't expect it so soon.

"Don't do anything until I get there." He finished off and hung up.

"Well that looks like the end of my holiday. He said addressing the group. I better go."

Cassie was about to say she would give him a lift but Jack beat her to it.

"T and I are heading back your way. We can give you a lift back to the motel if you like." He said as both men got up to leave.

"Um" Paul said stealing a glance at Cassie that said _'I'm sorry'_ "that would be greatly appreciated general, thank you."

Paul made to get up, grabbing Cassie's hand under the table and gently squeezing it then letting go. Little did either of them know but Daniel caught the gesture.

"Thanks for allowing me to spend time with you all. I'll see you soon I'm sure." He smiled politely at them then turned to leave with Jack and Tealc. They were nearly out of site when he turned and made eye contact with Cassie, before disappearing.

"Well I'm beat, come on Daniel I'll take you home." Sam said.

Daniel looked over at Cassie who was back to staring at the remains of her dinner as if the world had come to an end.

"That's ok Sam I'll get a lift with Cassie, she's closer to me anyway." Daniel said "if that's ok with you Cass?" He added

"Uh, sure. No probs." Cassie answering still playing with mess in front of her.

"Ok then, I'll see you both on Monday." Sam replied, getting up to also leave.

"Bye" Daniel and Cassie said in unison. Cassie sighed quietly to herself.

_I swear the PTB are trying to screw me over._


	11. An event full sleepover

Chapter 11

**AN EVENTFUL SLEEPOVER**

They had driven most of the way home in complete silence. Not that Cassie minded, it gave her time to think about the events of the last four days.

_What happens now is anyone's guess._

Daniel had tried to start a conversation several times to no avail, and spent most of the journey trying to steal glances from her with out success. It was clear that her mind was elsewhere. Just as they pulled into his driveway he decided to find out what was bothering her.

"What's going on?" he asked her out right, just as she had brought the car to a stop.

"What do you mean?" she said looking forward at the garage in front of her.

"You know what I mean Cassie." He stated staring at her for reaction, but got nothing.

Huffing at the lack of response he continued "Right well you're not leaving here till I find out. Come on we are going inside."

"But…." She tried to protest, looking at him for the first time since leaving the food court.

"No, you have been hiding something for days now and I want to know what it is. Inside now!" He stated getting out of the car and making his way around to her side and opening the door. He took the keys out of the ignition and, taking her hands, pulled her out of the car.

Keeping one of her hands in his, he made his way to the front door and started searching for his keys in his pocket.

"Daniel there isn't anything wrong…." She tried to say as he located the key and let them in.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong, just that there is something going on." He replied pulling her into the house.

She had always loved his house. There were so many beautiful things within it. He released her and she moved away from him to look at the pictures and books on the bookshelves in his living room. There was one of her, Janet, Daniel and Sam at her primary school graduation. She would have only been twelve.

"I remember this photo, gosh that seems like such a long time ago now." She said smiling at the look of love on Janet's face.

Daniel had stayed back and was leaning against the door frame watching her move around the room looking at the different pictures, most of them being of the last seven years.

"Cassie…." He began but paused as if to contemplate what he said next.

"Daniel I'm fine honestly." She said

_Ok. __Just smile, look happy and breathe. You're doing great._

"I know you are but you're still hiding something and it…. involves Paul." He said as if testing the waters. Her head snapped up at the mention of Paul's name but she didn't make eye contact with him.

_CRAP!_

Recovering, she said "what makes you think that?" sitting down on the couch, but facing away from him. He came around the chair and sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her.

"Because you have been acting strangely since Wednesday when you ran in to him for the first time on the base and every time you are in his presence since then you tense up. …. And I saw what took place in the food court today."

_Double CRAP! Um__…_

"Oh" was all she could say but she did look up at him.

"So are you going to tell me or do I have to call Sam and Jack?" he said.

"NO! Please you can't say anything to them. Promise me you won't. I'll tell you everything. Jack will FREAK!" She said panicking all of a sudden.

"Okay, okay. I won't tell them. Calm down. But you have to tell everything, now." He said taking her hands in his to calm her down.

_Oh well here goes. _

"Alright. Um… ok, so I ran into Paul in the hall on Wednesday and… I don't know there was just something there. I can't explain it. Then there was the barbeque where we got on really well and then there was a moment on Jack's roof…"

"A moment?" Daniel prodded.

"Hey don't interrupt, you want to here this or not? A moment which I can't explain either. Then I ran into him the next morning on my walk and that was just… I don't know, most of the stuff I haven't even worked out for myself yet, let alone tell someone else about it." She had started to ramble. She just kept talking saying everything that came to mind. It seemed like once she started she had to get it all out and that if she were to stop the emotions boiling up inside her would explode.

"Ok take a breath Cass. You're going to pass out." Daniel said trying to calm her down.

"Sorry. I guess this has been building up a bit." She apologized, and then continued.

"Ok where was I? Right, so then we had the movie, which was great. We got on so well. Then there was the run in with Dominic, Which I don't really want to go into, it's too complicated. We walked home to find Miss Mabel had got herself stuck in the neighbor's roof again. Paul rescued her for me but got injured in the process so of course, me being my mother's daughter, had to fix him up and one thing lead to another and he…"

_Here goes…_

"…Kissed me."

The look on Daniel's face was priceless.

_Don't stop now Frasier, you're on a roll._

"And I kissed him back." She finished slowly waiting for the reaction she thought was coming. It never came.

"Oh"

_That's it. Oh come on. DO something. ANYTHING!_

"So today we talked about what had transpired and we kind of decided that we wanted to see where this could go. That would have been about the time that you rang about the artifact." She stopped and waited again for a reaction

_Say something Daniel._

"I think we need some coffee. **I **need some coffee." He stated and got up and left. He returned a few minutes later with to cups in his hand.

"So what happens now?" He asked setting the cups down on the coffee table and sitting down next to her on the couch.

"I have no idea. Like I said I barely understand any of this myself and he said he had some issues of his own o deal with. I guess we just wait and see." She replied rubbing her face.

Daniel nodded as if knowing this already. Cassie gave him a suspicious look.

_He knows more than he is letting on._

She decided to leave it for the time being.

"So for now we are just going to get to now each other better, just taking it slow."

"You know Jack is going to freak. The age difference alone is…"

Cassie smile slightly "that was the first thing that Paul said and he almost didn't survive. Besides, Jack's one to talk when it comes to Sam. Look Daniel we are very aware of the odds against us and there seem to be a lot, a few that I think we don't even know about yet. But when I'm around him I just feel… right. Safe. Please don't tell the others. I have to move on with my life, start making decisions for my self. If you don't let me do that then there was no point to you bringing me back through the gate." She pleaded with him.

Daniel ponded what she had said. "You know sometimes I forget how old you really are. There is a lot of wisdom in that brain of yours. And you're right, you do need to start making choices in your life. I won't tell the others, but you have to promise me that if it ever gets too much for you that you will talk to me. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. Ok?"

_There it is aga__in. You know something. And it's big._

"Daniel what do you know that I don't?" she asked.

"Sorry but I can't tell you. Like Paul said, there is stuff that he needs to move on from, it may take him sometime. But I am here for you. Ok"

"Thanks." she said trying to smile but instead tears started spilling down her face.

"Hey, why are you crying? It will be ok." Daniel said softly, pulling her to him in a hug.

"I'm Sorry" she sniffed, snuggling into Daniel's shoulder. "This week has just been a lot to take in. What with Dominic being such a Pratt and the emotional rollercoaster ride with Paul it's just been a lot. Hell I even met the president. That in it self should have sent most of us to the loony bin on Wednesday. I guess I'm just exhausted, I haven't been sleeping great either."

"You wanna stay?" He said still holding her to him.

"Yeah" she said, all of a sudden having trouble keeping her eyes open. She closed them a drifted off to sleep.

……………..

Cassie hadn't slept so well in a long time. In fact she couldn't actually remember the last time see had slept so well. So she wasn't pleased when she was pulled from her sleepy state by the smell of the coffee that had been placed under her nose.

"Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead." Daniel was quietly calling to her whilst rubbing her arm gently and holding the coffee to her nose.

"Bugger off Daniel!" She said trying to pull the quilt of the bed over her head.

"No, no, come on, its time to get up." He said pulling the covers away from her.

"Why?" she whined "I was so comfortable."

"Well for a start I would like my bed back and there's someone downstairs waiting for you."

She had missed the second part of what he said and was now looking around at where she was.

"How did I get in your room?" She asked

"I carried you. You were dead to the world." He stated

"Where did you sleep?"

"I didn't. Now get up and downstairs. You might want to do something with your hair first though." He said pointing at his own head before turning to walk away, placing the coffee on the bed sided table.

"Why? What's wrong with my hair?"

He pointed to the mirror on the wall with out even turning around, and headed out the room.

_He has been spending way too much time with Jack!_

Cassie watched until he had left before moving from the bed. She padded over to the mirror to find out what he had been referring to.

_DAMN!_

Her normally beautiful golden mane was pointing in directions she didn't even know were possible, and her clothes were wrinkled beyond belief.

_Ugh_

She combed her hair down as best she could with her fingers and smoothed her clothes. Taking another look in the mirror she decided she would pass to be in Daniel's presence.

_Since when does he care what I look like anyway?_

She grabbed the coffee from the side and headed downstairs. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she headed for the kitchen, taking a mouthful of the coffee. She grimaced as she swallowed.

"Ugh! Good Lord Daniel! Where did you get this Coffee? This stuff is worse than what we get on the base. No wonder you spend so much time…" She stopped dead when she walked into the kitchen and found Daniel sitting at the table with Paul.

_Didn't see that one coming!_

"Cassie, what are you doing here?" Paul said seemingly completely taken by surprise.

"I could say the same to you." She said to him, recovering from the shock of seeing him here. "Aren't you supposed to be back in Washington?" she said looking at Daniel, who just shrugged.

_Oh pull the other one Daniel. This is SO __you're doing._

"I couldn't get a flight back till lunchtime today but I had to check out by 10am. Daniel rang and offered to pick me up and take me to the airport." He said looking between Daniel and Cassie.

"Oh, he did, did he?" she said still not taking her eyes off of Daniel, who was edging towards the door.

"You know what, I haven't had any sleep. Cassie do you think you could drop Paul off at the airport for me? I'm just going to see if I can get a few hours sleep." He said backing this way out of the room.

Cassie followed him with her eyes, Paul behind her. "Thank you" she mouthed to Daniel before he moved out of sight, smiling at her as he went.

Cassie turned back to Paul still smiling.

"Um what was that about and why are you here?" Paul asked completely confused about what had just happened.

"Uh, he knows."

"He what, how?" he said a little accusingly.

"Hey!" she defended "it wasn't my fault. If I remember correctly, it was _**you **_that grabbed my hand under the table in front of everybody last night." She said pointing at him. "He picked up on it. He's very perceptive like that."

"Oh. Sorry." He apologized with rather a sheepish look on his face. She just smiled at him again.

"So…" she said not sure what to say next.

"So" he replied.

"How did the fishing go? Did you catch anything?" she inquired taking the seat next to him.

"Surprisingly well and no. Thanks for the tips though. The general's a really nice guy wants you understand how he works."

"You say that now. Just wait until he finds out about us." She said pointing between the two of them.

"Speaking of which, what about Daniel. Is he fine with this?"

"I wouldn't say _**fine**_ exactly, he's worried, but he isn't pointing a Zat at you and he did organize this little get together so… I think that it may have something to do with his ascension. He sees the big picture. He just wants me to be happy. He promised not to say anything to the others until we're ready."

Paul looked away from her at this last statement and didn't reply. He seemed to be thinking about something.

Okaaay…I'm defiantly missing something here. But I have no clue what. I mean what now?

Deciding to ask him just that, she broke the silence.

"What happens now?" she said.

"Uh, well, I have to go back to Washington. I'm not due to visit the SGC for another four weeks unless something comes up in between." He said still looking anywhere but her. His domineer had also changed back to what she had seen from him on the base.

This will never do. This is just depressing.

"You know, one would think that you being SGC/pentagon liaison, you would spend more time on the base with us. I mean how can you report back to them what goes on around here on a day to day basis when you only spend two days out of the month down here." She said off handedly. To which he chuckled softly.

That broke the tension. YES!

"Government spending." He exclaimed, making eye contact with her again.

That's better.

"What! That can't be their excuse. A flight from Washington to Colorado can't be more than what, a few hundred bucks. The whole Stargate program costs them six billion dollars a year. A few extra flights to here and back would be kind of insignificant in the grand scheme of things don't you think?" She said

He laughed quietly as she rambled on about the injustice of it all.

"I'll be sure to inform the president of you concerns." He said, not able to wipe the smile off face.

"Oh don't you worry, I'll be sure to tell him myself the next time he comes to visit. She said jokingly.' We're great friends now."

"I bet you are." He said wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. With his other hand he handed her a business card. "Here."

"See. They paid for these. Fancy!" She said trying to further her point. He couldn't help but laugh at her.

Recovering he said "that has got my office phone number and my email on it. I'm in and out of meetings most of the day but my secretary can take a message…"

"You have a secretary? Jack doesn't even have one of those." She interrupted.

"The General doesn't have to deal with other world leaders on a daily basis." He said

"Point taken." She agreed thinking it over.

"Your best bet is to email me. I check the damn thing a least ten times a day. I'll try to ring you if I don't get back to my place to late, but I'm hardly ever there." He said

"Where is home?" she asked.

'Just a small two bed roomed apartment in the middle of Washington. I wouldn't call it a home though." The sadness had returned to his eyes again.

Ok time for a change of subject again.

"Well time is getting on and unfortunately you have a plane to catch in just over an hour. Why don't you put your stuff in my car and I'll just go and get changed."

"You have clothes here?" he asked a little puzzled.

"Yeah, Daniel and I often work here when we can't concentrate at the base. Usually ends up being an all nighter. For him anyway, I usually crash. I'll be back in a minute." She said. He nodded and she handed him her keys.

She made her way back upstairs. She walked to Daniel's bedroom door and looked in, expecting to find him crashed out. He wasn't. He was just sitting on the bed staring into space.

"Hey" she said trying not to startle him. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks" she said coming over and sitting down next to him.

"You're welcome. I just want you to be happy. We all do."

"I know. But I also know what Jack, Sam and Tealc will do if they find out about this. And the fact that Paul is not only older than they would probably like, he's also an air force major, doesn't. I remember what happened the last time one of the captains looked at me the 'wrong way' he was scared for his life by the time Tealc was through with him. I've never seen someone transferred out of the base so fast in my life."

"Well in their defense even I thought he deserved that" Daniel interrupted.

"That's not the point. I just want a chance to see how things go with out any interference for the time being." She stated and he looked gingerly at her in apology.

"Besides, the longer I think about it the more I think that I'm going to have to be the strong one in this relationship. Something happened to him that broke his heart, and I don't think he really knows how to move on from that. He's scared. You guys have nothing to worry about things moving to fast for me." She finished.

Daniel just looked at her in wonder. How the hell did she work that out so quickly? Paul certainly wouldn't have told her, he didn't want anyone knowing. It's still too painful for him. He just couldn't get over how much the girl. No. Woman next to him had grown up. She had gone and done it so fast that none of them had noticed.

"It's ok. I get it. I won't say anything until you're ready. Promise. Now you better go or you're going to make Paul miss his flight." He said looking over at the clock on the bedside table.

"Crap!" she said glancing at it as well, then running into his wardrobe and reappearing with a pile of clothes. She ran back across the room and out the door to the bathroom shouting a "thank you" and "bye" over her shoulder on her return before heading down the stairs and out to the car.


	12. I hate airports!

Chapter 12

**I HATE AIRPORTS**

After Paul had insisted on driving, they made their way to the airport. She wouldn't normally mind someone else driving but she hated airports and knowing that she was being driven to one was doing her head in. She had been tense the whole way there. Cassie had always hated them. It's just seemed such a sad place. People were always saying goodbye to loved ones and there were always tears. They arrived at the departures terminal and Paul parked the car and got out to fetch his bags.

_Oh god I hate this place. Who knows why? It's not like I have to come here that often. I can't even remember the last time I was here. Oh that's right I saw Nelson off. God that was horrible._

"You ok over there?" Paul asked with concern in his voice.

"Fine' she answered a little too quickly.

"You don't have to stay. I can make my own way from here." He said sensing her uneasiness.

"No, its ok. I'll come in." she said getting out of the car and following him.

They made their way inside and found the correct check in desk for his flight. She waited for him while he checked his luggage in and got his boarding pass. When he came back over to her she looked over his shoulder at the boarding pass.

"See, First Class! That's what I mean, if they can afford first class tickets they can afford to send you more often." She said the sarcasm evident in her voice.

He looked over his shoulder at her. And she grinned back, but it was evident that the sarcasm and the smile were hiding her discomfort at being here. Deciding just to play along with her he said, "The funding department must have just been feeling generous."

"Huh." She huffed in response.

"The gate I'm leaving from is down there." He said pointing to a corridor to the left. "I can make my own way from here if you…"

"No I'll walk you down." She interrupted and started to move away, not allowing him to protest.

_Hey if we are going to make a go of this I'm just going to have to get used to the place, aren't I. _

They walked down the corridor in silence. Cassie wondered if it was ever going to end. _We sure do have a big airport. _They finally made it to the gate that Paul's flight was leaving from.

"Wow! This flight must be full. There are hundreds of people here." She commented looking around at all the people saying goodbye to their loved ones.

"Yeah." He said looking over to the gate. The flight was already boarding. "I better go." He said looking at her, her attention still on the other passengers. "I'll call you tomorrow once I've had a chance to sort things out."

"Sure." She said refocusing on him. "Um… I'll be at work but you can ring me there."

"Ok. Bye" he said bending down and kissing her lightly on the cheek. He turned and walked away. He got a about six meters away when Cassie finally snapped out of the trance she had been in and suddenly started running after him calling out to him.

"Paul! Wait" he stopped and turned towards her just in time to catch her as she launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. He recovered from the shock of her advance and deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him, lifting her off the ground. She pulled away and looked at him. "Bye." She whispered as he put her down.

"Now go before I cry" she said pulling away completely and smiling.

"I'll ring. Ok?" he said a little disorientated, moving away backwards.

"Kay" she said watching him go. She waited until he was through the gate before she turned and left the airport.


	13. I guess i'm going to Washington

Chapter 13

**I GUESS I'M GOING TO WASHINGTON**

To Cassie's surprise the week after Paul went back to Washington went very quickly. He had rung her the night he had got back but she could tell he was distracted by his work already so she had kept it brief not wanting to hold him up. She had emailed him a few times and he had responded but it seemed to be just the usual pleasantries and nothing more. She didn't know why but she had expected it to some extent but she was still a little unnerved about it.

The SGC had been its usual busy little hive of activity with teams coming and going through the gate. SG1 was scheduled to go off world for a four-day meet and greet with a new race tomorrow, which meant that she would get a little peace and quiet for a few days, only a little though, when the team went off world the visits from Jack tended to increase because he had no one else to bug when he was bored. She didn't really mind, he generally would just sit there and ask silly questions or give her a pop quiz on the latest episode of the Simpsons. She wouldn't have to worry about him nagging her about eating and the likes. That job was reserved for Sam and occasionally Daniel.

She was currently still staring at that _DAMN _artefact from the week previous. It had somehow become a 'number one' priority by the Pentagon because the nerds up on level 10 wanted to turn up the power and see if it would blow something up. Something that Daniel and Sam had objected to, at least until they had some idea of what the writings on the device meant.

"I give up!" she stated throwing her pen down on the table next to the machine.

"Mmm…" was the only reply she received for Daniel who was sitting on the floor next to it.

"Come on Daniel, its useless. We have been staring at this thing for over a week and have got nothing. There is clearly another dialect incorporated into the Gould and Ancient text. With out a point of reference it's hopeless… Is it hot in here or is it just me?" she said removing her long-sleeved over blue shirt so that she just had her black t-shirt underneath. She moved over to the thermostat controls on the wall and turned the air conditioning down a few degrees.

"It's just you." He stated looking up at her and then at his watch. "Wow its past lunch time. Come on lets grab a bit to eat. It'll give us a chance to clear our heads."

She offered him a hand up that he gratefully accepted and they headed for the mess hall. They grabbed the lunch special, which in her opinion should have been illegal to serve such a dish to any living creature, and grabbed a table.

"Where do they think these dishes up?" she commented looking at the food in front of her. She played around with it for a while before deciding that the only safe thing on the plate was the Garden Salad.

"Beats me." Daniel replied, following her lead and opting for the salad too. "So have you heard from Paul this week?" he asked. Cassie had been waiting for him to bring the subject of Paul up for days. She had been able to tell that he wanted to ask about it for ages.

She looked up at him before answering "one phone call when he got back and a couple of emails." She said purposely not offering too much information.

_You're going to have to work harder than that._

"And?" he prodded.

"And that's it really. He's gone back into work mode. The phone conversation lasted all of three minutes and the emails were in response to one I had sent to him." She said looking down at the salad in front of her.

"That's it?" even he seemed surprised at the lack of communication.

"That's it. They're like reading an official memo out of Washington. He has completely immersed himself back into his work." She said stabbing at a cherry tomato that just didn't want to be eaten. "I have to admit I had expected it to some extent anyway." She said finally looking up at him.

"I'm sorry. This must be hard." He said trying to be reassuring.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up that easily. I didn't survive a worldwide plague and a retro virus like no other to be stopped by a few lousy emails from a non-committal workaholic. I'm just going to have to rethink my strategy a little." She said with confidence.

"Rethink what strategy?" asked Sam walking up to the table and taking a seat next to Cassie.

"And who's a noncommittal workaholic?" said Jack taking the seat next to Daniel.

_How do they always manage to do that?_

"No one." Daniel answered quickly.

_A little to quickly there mate._

Sam and Jack gave Daniel a suspicious look.

_Time to go into damage control._

"I was just saying that we need to rethink our strategy on decoding the writing on that stupid machine. I don't know about you but it kind of gives me the creeps." Cassie injected hoping to alleviate the suspicion and change the subject.

"Oh" was all Jack said seemingly satisfied with the answer. Sam still didn't look convinced but didn't say anything.

"Until we have some firm evidence as to what it does I don't think we should go doing anything to it. Even doing the simplest test may activate something that we can't stop." Daniel interjected. "Besides with us going off world tomorrow it will give us a chance to give it some more thought. Staring at it doesn't seem to be working" he finished.

"Unfortunately it isn't that simple Daniel, the geeks decided to go over my head on this one. They seem to think I don't like them very much. Don't know where they got that idea from." Jack replied sarcastically.

Cassie got a strange sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"They went straight to the Pentagon. They seem to think it is some kind of weapon and want to start testing it right away" he added.

_They cannot be really considering this._

"And these people are supposed to be the brightest minds on the planet. PLEASE!" Cassie said angrily more to her self rather than anyone else. "The Pentagon can't seriously be considering testing a weapon that they know nothing about?" she said directing her question to Jack.

"Luckily not everyone agrees with the nerd brigade. Hammond rang this morning to get my take on what had been presented to the board and I told him that you guys had doubts about what would happen if the machine were switched on. But his hands are somewhat tied. In fairness to all parties concerned he has scheduled a meeting with the would-be project leader, another Pentagon official and a representative from here to discuss the problem."

"So when's the meeting? I mean both Sam and I are leaving tomorrow" asked Daniel.

"That's the thing. It's scheduled for the day after tomorrow. George is being pressured to sort this out ASAP." Jack answered.

"Well I guess one of us will have to stay behind." Sam stated.

"No this mission is too important to not have either of you on it." Jack said to Sam and then looked at Cassie. "I was thinking maybe Cassie could go in your place."

_Huh! No, not a good idea_

"What! Me, go to Washington." Cassie squealed, that horrible feeling setting in.

_No not a good idea at all._

"Sorry" she apologized for her out burst. "I've just got a really bad feeling about this whole thing."

"Surely it can wait till after we return from off world. This is a huge responsibility to put on Cassie." Daniel jumped in looking very concerned at what had been subjected, Sam nodded in agreement.

"We only have one shot at convincing them against it. It's now or never. Besides other than Daniel and Sam you are the most qualified person to deliver the report on the machine" Jack said ignoring the others and looking at Cassie.

"I'm not so sure this is a very good idea Sir" Sam piped up "Cassie has never even been to Washington before. And those meetings can be ruthless?"

_Yeah! What she said._

"I mean even I have frozen in front of some of those people and I know what I'm talking about." She said

_HEY!!_

Cassie frowned in Sam's direction. _Nice. Thanks for the confidence booster. Nice to know you believe in me that much!_

"Sorry Cass that came out wrong. What I mean is that I've done a few of these and they are not fun. They can rip you to shreds." Sam said seeing the look on Cassie's face.

"Geez Carter it's not like she going to be going in front of a firing squad. There will only be three other people in the room." Jack exclaimed scowling a little in Sam's direction. He then turned back to Cassie who was looking a little more comfortable with the idea "I have every confidence in you to do this. If I didn't I wouldn't be sending you. Your uncle George will be there to help out as best he can and he also offered to have you stay with him and you're Aunt Heather so you will be in familiar surroundings."

"Well if this is the only way around this, I can go through a few things with you later on today regarding what they are likely to throw at you in the way of questions. And I think Jack's right, you are quite capable of handling this." Daniel said.

"You know what? Sure, I'll do it! Bring it on." She answered feeling very confidant all of a sudden. The unsettled feeling still remained though.

_I am SO ready for this! Bring it on! _

_Wait a minute! Washington?…The Pentagon?… Paul! _

_Okay maybe not quite ready._


	14. And we're off to see the Pentagon

Chapter 14

**AND WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE PENTAGON**

Cassie was currently sitting on a plane on her way to Washington DC and she was already exhausted.

_How DO I get myself into these things?_

After it had been finalized that Cassie would be making the trip to Washington she had then spent the next eight hours with Daniel and Sam going over the finer points of negotiating with the Pentagon. By the time she had made it home at 11pm she had the biggest headache on record and couldn't fall asleep. She had laid awake most of the night going over and over in her head what she was going to say to convince the right people not to do anything drastic with the machine. And the rest of the night she spent laying there thinking about Paul, something she really didn't want to deal with right at the moment. The next four days where going to be hard enough with out having him in the back of her mind, that and the fact that at any given moment she would walk around a corner and there he would be.

_I'll deal with him if and when the need arises. I've enough to keep me going on with at the moment as it is._

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to relax. She opened her eyes and looked out the window. It looked as though they would be landing in a few minutes so she packed up the books she had been looking over and got herself ready for her first trip to Washington.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Once they had landed and she had disembarked from the plane she made her way through the hordes of people to the arrivals lounge. Once she had grabbed her case and bag she fished around in her pocket for the id card that Jack had given her, and pinned it to her coat. When he had dropped her off at the airport he had told her that the General was going to be in a meeting when she landed, and that he was going to send a driver to take her to the Pentagon.

She looked around for some one that looked like they might be from the Pentagon. In the far corner, she spotted a young man dressed in an air force uniform. He must have also spotted her because he made eye contact with her and smiled as he made his way over to her.

"Miss Frasier?" he asked he said rushing up to her, causing her to take a step back in surprise.

"Yep. That's me." She replied a little nervously.

"Excellent I feared that I would never find you in this crowd. I was debating weather to go back and face the General's wrath for not bringing you back with me or to leave the country before he could catch up with me. Oh where are my manners, Lieutenant Kemp at you service. Can I take your bags Ma'am?" He said without taking a breath.

"General Hammond isn't that bad." She said, she didn't know why but this guy did sit well with her. He was very polite and eager but she got the feeling that there was something not quite right.

"Only when it comes to you." He said smiling back at her. "He seems very protective of you."

_Arh! Just when I thought I was going to get a break from the over protectiveness!_

"I guess you could say I'm family." She said handing over her suitcase that he had asked for. He smiled back taking the case from her and ushering her toward the doors.

"The car is waiting outside. We'll be taking you straight to the Pentagon. General Hammond is waiting for you there." He said as they made their way through the doors.

"We?' she questioned.

"The driver is waiting in the car." He answered

"An escort and driver." She stated rather than asking the question.

_Talk about overkill._

The lieutenant chuckled a little as he put the case in the boot of the car and then opened one of the doors for her. "Like you said, you're family." He said answering her.

It took them about twenty minutes to get to their destination and the lieutenant talked her ear off the whole way there. If he wasn't talking about the various buildings that they pasted on the way, then he was telling her about the latest election scandal. Most of what he said to her went in one ear and out the other, making her feel a little guilty. But he was just a bit too much for her to take at the moment. Her stomach was feeling a little uneasy.

They arrived at the Pentagon in good time and got out of the car. They then made their way inside and through four different security checks, up two floors in the elevator through another security check and down a corridor that branched off into other corridors lined with offices. The place was teaming with people everywhere. A bit further down the main corridor they came to a large glass door that led into a large lab, surrounded by more offices.

"Not much research is done actually here but demonstrations can be conducted in there." Kemp said pointing to the lab, he then gestured further down the corridor "just down here is General Hammond's office."

Just as they neared the secretary's desk to announce their arrival, the General's door opened and a familiar bald headed man came to stand in the doorway with a smile plastered across his face.

Cassie couldn't help but squeal and ran towards the man, throwing her arms around him in a hug. "Uncle George!" she exclaimed then realizing where she was pulled back a little. "Sorry. Got a little carried away there."

He just chuckled and pulled her back to him in a tight hug. "That's alright. We've missed you. Your Aunt Heather can't wait to see how much you've grown. She has insisted that you come and stay with us whilst you're in town. She couldn't bear the thought of you in a hotel room on your own." He said as he pulled away and smiled back at her.

"Oh I don't want to impose…" she started.

"Nonsense. Besides if I go home with out you and there is a roast on the table for three my life will no longer be worth living."

"A roast? Beef? With Yorkshires?" she said the excitement of the dinner evident in her voice.

_She sure knows me to well._

"Of course." He said nodding.

"You talked me into."

"Fantastic. Now let's get you familiar with the place and I can show you your office for your stay." He said. She said goodbye to lieutenant Kemp, thankful to be rid of him, and her Uncle George ushered her up the hallway a few doors. Unbeknownst to either of them they were watched by someone standing in a doorway just out of sight.

General Hammond came to a stop and opened a door and allowed her to move inside.

"I get an office? I'm only going to be here a few days." She questioned as she looked around the room she had been shown into. It was quite a spacious room with a large wooden desk. It had a beautiful leather chair behind it with two other chairs in front. On the desk was a rather complicated looking phone and behind the desk were two large filing cabinets. Off to the side there were two leather couches with a coffee table in between them. On the wall over looking the couches was a beautiful picture of a waterfall and there were several fern type plants scattered around the room. _WOW!_

"It's beautiful. But what do I need this for?" she asked turning back to face her Uncle George.

"This is the guest suite. It is used for dignitaries and the likes. No one is going to be using it for the next month or so, so I thought you might as well make use of it. Over the next few days you will probably have to do a lot of hanging around. At least this way you can be comfortable and have a little peace. I know for a fact that you brought other work for yourself to do." The last sentence was given with a teasing scowl.

_I have NO secrets._

"Now this is the key to the office and just up the hallway near the lab you pasted is a kitchen and rest rooms. Why don't I leave you for half an hour to get settled and then I'll take you home. Tomorrow we can go over a few things regarding the review for the day after." He said.

"Sounds like a plan. Thank you." She said smiling back.

"I'll come and get you in half an hour." He said and left. She walked slowly to the door he had just left though and slowly closed it. Leaning back against it, she turned back around to take in the room again.

_Ok Frasier now we get to see what you're really made of. _

Taking a deep breath she pushed herself off the door and slowly made her way to the desk and placed her laptop and book bag on top of it.

She was just running her hand along the large desk when there was a soft knock on the door.


	15. A surprise visit

Chapter 15

**A SURPRISE VISIT**

Cassie froze at the knock, all she could do was stare at the door and hope that who ever was on the other side would go away.

_Crap! Who the hell could that be? No one knows I'm even here yet unless…maybe if I ignore them they will go away._

Unfortunately who ever was on the other side was persistent and instead of giving up they knocked again.

_Oh this is ridiculous! Just answer the door already!_

Deciding that the safety the desk in front of her was nice she remained where she was standing and simply called out to who ever was on the other side. "It's open."

The door opened slightly and slowly Paul's head came into view. On spotting her he quickly looked back out the door to check if anyone was around and then quickly slipped fully into the office and closed the door behind him quietly.

Cassie frowned at him and tilted her head slightly to the side.

_So much for dealing with this situation later._

He remained standing by the door. Now that he was here it looked like he didn't know what to do with him self.

"You know people are not going to suspect you of illicit dealings just because you, as the Pentagon liaison to the SGC, have come to say 'hi' to an SGC employee who is here on SGC business." She said with a deadpan look on her face.

_You are so not getting away with this one easily buddy._

When he didn't answer her straight away she decided to give her attention to something else. Pulling her laptop out of its bag she went about setting it up on the desk for use later on. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that he had moved slightly forward and was watching her.

"I um…" he stumbled and she stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. "… I hadn't expected to see you so soon." He finished, now not looking at her but at the picture on the wall. She too looked at the picture for a moment, the image settling some of the anger and frustration that had been building inside of her. She moved out from behind the desk and leaned back against it.

"So…" was all she could come up with.

"What are you doing here?" he asked

"You don't know?" she asked thinking that it was a little odd that an SGC matter had slipped past him.

"Honey I've been in Russia for the past 3 days trying to sort out a right old mess with their government. I just got back and saw you in the hallway with Kemp and General Hammond. I've got no idea what's going on."

_Oh that would explain a lot._

Cassie suddenly felt rather guilty about how she had treated him.

_Stil,l he could have opened up told me. Wait a sec, did he just call me… _

"Oh." She said in shock. He obviously had not realized what he had just called her.

"Um… well have a seat." She said gesturing towards the couches. He sat down and she took the couch opposite him. "Well you remember that machine thingy that turned its self on. Well the science nerds want to turn it up to full power and I'm here to voice the SGC's concerns on doing so."

"Well what do the scientists think it will do?' he asked not quite sure what the problem was.

"They think it's a weapon."

"And what do you think?" he said still not getting it.

"I agree with them." She said

He frowned slightly at that comment. "Then what's the problem? The whole point of the Stargate program is to seek out technology to defend earth."

"Two key words in that sentence." She said "technology and defend. There is nothing in our mandate about seeking out 'weapons'."

He still looked confused.

"Look, they think it's a weapon, but they have absolutely no idea what type of weapon it could be. They could turn it up and kill everyone in a hundred mile radius of its location for all we know. We just don't want them to do any thing until we can decipher the writings on it." She explained.

"That sounds like a good plan. But don't take this the wrong way but why did they send you." He said somewhat gingerly

"Not a clue." She laughed slightly to ease the tension that was evident on his face. "Well Daniel and Sam are both off world. And it apparently couldn't wait for them to get back so …Jack in his infinite wisdom decided to send me in to bat for the team." She added. If this bothered him he didn't say, and he continued to question her on the matter at hand.

"Who is the scientist pushing for the go ahead to turn it up?" he asked.

"Um some guy by the name of…" she paused got up and retrieved her brief from her bag. "Dr Jeremy Longrange. Heard of him?" she asked

"He worked on Prometheus for a while. The weapons systems. So that would explain his involvement on this project. What's your gut feeling on this? Off the record."

She regarded him for a moment. Not sure weather to tell him what she really thought about it. He looked generally concerned about it and she got the feeling that he could sense the uneasiness that it was causing in her. Deciding to go with it she leaned forward as if she was telling him something that she didn't want any one else to here and answered.

"It seems familiar to me. I don't know why. It just doesn't sit right. I don't think its going to do what they think it will." She confided in him. He looked at her not fully understanding her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't think it's a matter of 'point and shot' with this thing. More of a 'switch it on and god help anyone in the way' type thing." She said looking a little sick even thinking about it.

"Oh" was all he could say

"Yeah."

"Where is it now?" he asked.

"It's still at the SGC for the time being. They were going to ship it to area 51 but they are going to wait and see what the outcome is regarding the hearing." She said answering his question.

"Good. Well I'll see General Hammond in the morning and get brought up to speed before your meeting. I may be able to help you." He said standing. Suddenly the tension that had faded whilst he had been seemed to creep back into the room.

"Thanks." She said eyeing him up suspiciously and standing herself.

_Here we go. I knew this was too good to be true._

He looked around the room trying to avoid having to look at her. She was about to confront him when a voice from the door beat her to it.

"Major Davis. I didn't realize you were back." said General Hammond, from the doorway. "How was your trip?"

Paul focused on the General startled by his arrival.

"Sir! Um fine thank you." He answered moving away from the couch and Cassie towards the General. "The Russians are happy for the time being."

"Excellent work Major. I see you have met Cassandra Frasier. I take it she brought you up to speed on the project?" the General asked.

Cassie looked at Paul who currently looked like he had seen a ghost. She looked away and rolled her eyes.

_Time to have a little fun._

"The major and I are well acquainted, Uncle George. We've _**stumbled**_ across each other several times." she said glancing at Paul quickly to catch his reaction. She wasn't disappointed. He was staring at her with wide eyes in complete shock.

"Excellent that will make working together easier then. Davis I expect you to help Cassie out where ever she needs it. You have the experience in politics that she doesn't. Off the record I agree with Cassie's feelings on the matter but can not show any bias towards the SGC, you on the other had can. With the Russians sorted for the time being this is your new priority." He finished.

"Yes Sir." Paul answered recovering from his shock and turning to face the General.

"Good. A full report is waiting on your desk to bring you fully up to speed."

"Thank you Sir. I better be going, looks like I've a lot to catch up on. I'll see you tomorrow Sir." Paul answered moving to the door. He turned and looked at Cassie when he was halfway out "Miss Frasier." He offered in goodbye and was gone.

_MISS FRAISER!?! I guess I deserved that._

Cassie looked at the now open door and chuckled lightly to herself. She probably should have been madder but she couldn't help but see the funny side of the moment. She looked back around to her Uncle George who was watching her with a little suspicion.

"Did I just miss something in that little exchange?" He asked.

"No" she answered and turned away from him to hide the smile on her face and moved behind the desk.

"If you say so." He answered but she got the feeling the he was not convinced with her answer. "If you are ready we can head home. That roast will just about be ready."

Her smile brightened even more at the prospect of a wonderful home cooked meal, something she had not had in a very long time. "I'm ready when you are. Lead the way."

With that they headed out of the building and home.


	16. Another Hurdle

Chapter 16

**ANOTHER HURDLE**

The next day came quickly for Cassie. Her alarm sounded at 6.30am but she was already lying awake. She had decided not to go for a run, mainly because she didn't know the area and was actually way too comfortable where she was to move. Instead she hit the snooze button on the clock wanting to lye there for just a few more minutes. She did feel kind of guilty though, after all the food that she had put away last night. But she had decided to blame her Aunt Heather, who had not only cooked Yorkshire puddings as promised, but had roasted pumpkin and coli flour cheese. Not to mention the unbelievable apple and rhubarb crumble for dessert to which Uncle George had insisted she have two helpings.

After helping with the cleaning up, which also proved to be a challenge after having to practically throw Aunt Heather out of the kitchen, George had shown her to her room. It was beautiful with a large bed and lots of pillows.

These pillows were the current problem. They had surrounded her whilst she had slept and she was now so comfortable that she never wanted to move again. The alarm sounded again and she decided that she was going to have to move. She slapped the clock to stop it sounding and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Moving into the bathroom she ran the shower and slipped inside.

15 minutes later she headed down stairs and into the kitchen to find both Uncle George and Aunt Heather already there. Heather was watching over a frying pan on the stove and George was reading the morning paper at the breakfast table.

"Good morning." She said announcing her arrival.

"Good morning dear" Aunt Heather said looking up from the pan. "Eggs?" she asked pointing at the pan.

"Oh yes please." Cassie answered.

"Wonderful, take a seat dear. It won't be long."

"Thank you" Cassie said and sat down next to Uncle George. He looked up from the paper at her and smiled.

"How did you sleep?" he asked her folding up the paper.

"Fine thanks you." She lied "That is one comfortable bed."

"Yes the kids often say that when they come to stay." Heather said putting a plate in front of her and dishing the eggs onto it for her. "They've all grown up now. I miss having them here."

"Dear they are all over the age of 40 now and have families of their own. They had to move out sooner or later." George said gently to his wife.

"Doesn't mean I can't miss them." She said in defence.

"They must have a long way to come now that you live in Washington." Cassie offered.

"Actually they live not to far away from here. It's one of the reasons why I ended up taking the job in Washington in the first place. I get to see my Grand children a lot more now." George said.

Cassie watched the two of them for the rest of the meal and she couldn't help being a little jealous of the bond they had together.

_Mind you they have been working at it for 50 years._

After finishing breakfast they got themselves organized for the day and Cassie and George headed to the Pentagon about 9 o'clock. It seemed strange to her to be heading to work that late. By this time she would have done two hours work _at least._

When they arrived and made their way past the first security check they were stopped in the corridor by a nervous looking man just a little older than Cassie, wearing a suit.

"Excuse me General, sir, the secretary for defence would like to see you ASAP. He said to go straight to his office. Sir." The young man said.

"Oh ok son. I'll be right there. I've just got to show Miss Frasier to her office." He said addressing the young man.

"Don't worry General I can do that for you sir." A cheery voice said from behind them, an involuntary shiver ran throw Cassie. They turned to see lieutenant Kemp coming to a stand still behind them.

"Good morning Sir, Miss Frasier how are you today." He said giving Cassie a huge smile. She gave a small smile and hoped that it was convincing.

"I'm very well lieutenant. Thank you." She replied then turned to the General wanting to get away as soon as possible. "I'll be fine from here, Uncle George. I'm sure I can find my way from here."

"Ok my dear, but I'll be by later this morning to see how you're doing. Major Davis should already be upstairs to assist you." He said giving her a reassuring smile.

She returned the smile and headed off with Kemp unfortunately following.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Lieutenant Kemp had shown her back to her office and had left her to her own devices only after promising that she would have lunch with him that afternoon. She had been very reluctant but had agreed. It was the only way to get rid of him and it was only one lunch with a college in the lunch cafeteria with a hundred other people. Much like she did every other day at the SGC. She could handle that once. Still she was a little uneasy about it.

She had been alone for twenty minutes and not knowing what to do with her self until she had spoken to Paul, she decided to do some translating of the text on the machine. She had brought along some photos of it, so she sat herself down at her desk and got to work. She had become so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't hear a knock at the door, or hear some one enter the room.

"Good Morning." Paul said, startling her out of her research. She looked up giving a little yelp and with wide eyes. "I knocked but you were too caught up in what you were doing!"

"Hi." She said a little surprised. "Sorry. I um…"

"It's ok. How's the translation coming?" he smiled at her with amusement.

_He seems to be in a good mood this morning._

"Ugh! It's not. I just can't seem to work it out. Just can't seem to put my finger on it." She said throwing her hands up in the air and slapping them down on her sides. He seemed to find this also amusing and chuckled to him self.

"Well I've read up on the file left for me." He said holding it up in his hand. "and have worked out a few strategies for us to use in the meeting."

"Did you even sleep last night?" she interrupted looking at the thickness of the file. "Sorry. Continue."

"The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning so we have a lot to go over. I've managed to get the machine sent here and have some contacts coming in to give their opinion. The machine should be here this afternoon so we can work on the questions that you will probably be asked tomorrow now. How does that sound?" he said placing the brief case he had in his other hand on the desk.

"Hey, you're the one with the experience here. I'm easy," she replied to which she got a rather strange look from Paul.

_Hum. Maybe that didn't come out quite right._

Deciding to change the subject she simply said "so where do we start?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

They soon lost track of time and Cassie's head was beginning to hurt with all the stuff that she had remember. She didn't care though; she had loved every minute that she had had with Paul. He had completely relaxed and the coldness from the day before was completely gone. It was as if, like the evening the week before when they had walked home after the movie, they had known each other for years. She felt so comfortable here sitting with him.

At about 1 o'clock there was a knock on the door and Lieutenant Kemp poked his head in. "Somebody stood me up for lunch." He announced not even registering that Paul was in the room and only addressing Cassie.

"Huh" she said looking up completely confused taking in who had just walked into the room.

_What the… _

"You haven't even eaten have you?" Kemp continued berating her as if she was a child.

_What is he talking about? _

"Lunch!" Kemp exclaimed.

_Oh this morning. Right… He was serious?_

"Um." she said recovering a little and taking a look towards Paul. He didn't look amused. "Well I kind of forgot and I'm kind of busy so…" she said trying desperately to get out of it.

"No, No a date is a date…"

_DATE! Who said anything about a date! _

"…You're not getting out of it this easily. Come on." He said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her seat.

"But. I…" she protested trying to pull her hand from his grip. "I'm…"

This time Paul who had all of a sudden gone back to business mode interrupted her. "You do need to eat Miss Frasier. I apologise for keeping you so long." He said in a completely neutral voice. It didn't fool Cassie though. His eyes gave him away. They were sad and hurt.

"I shall meet you in the lab in an hour to go over the machine with you. Enjoy your meal." He said gathering his files from the desk and making his way out the door with out looking back at her.

_DAMN! _

Before she could really form a reaction to what had just happened she was ushered out the door and in the opposite direction that Paul had gone.


	17. Meetings

Chapter 17

**MEETINGS**

Cassie was miserable. She had been staring at the plate of food in front of her for nearly an hour. Lieutenant Kemp was sitting across from her and had not stopped talk the whole time they had been sitting there. He hadn't even noticed that she wasn't listening to him.

She couldn't shake the look of hurt in Paul's eyes as he had left the office.

_The thing is I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't think Kemp was serious, I was just trying to get rid of him earlier. I didn't even think about it. I don't even like the guy …. Grhh…__Just when I thought we were getting back on track._

"… So how about it?" Kemp finished saying.

"Huh?" Cassie said snapping out of her own mind and looking up at Kemp.

"Dinner and a movie tonight. You and me." He said.

_Oh god he just asked me out._

"Um I can't." she said looking back down at her plate.

"Why not? We are great together we would have fun." He said placing his hand over hers.

_We would be great together? I've known you half a day!...and think your creepy! this has to end NOW!_

She pulled her hand from underneath his and stood up. "I'm sorry Lieutenant but I think that you may have gotten the wrong idea somewhere along the way. I'm already seeing some one." She said.

"Oh come on Cassie, why not give it a go?" He said also standing and moving around to her side of the table. This whole situation was starting to scare her. She felt a shiver run down the back of her spine again and took a step back.

"Lieutenant did you even hear what I just said. I'm already involved with some one." She reiterated.

_Oh god where are Jack and Tealc when you need them._

"I've got to go." She said backing away slowly. She then quickly turned and walked away.

"Don't worry, I'll call you!!" he called out to her retreating form but she kept moving without looking back. She practically ran back to her office and closed the door behind her.

_What the hell... I didn't give off any signals to attract him. Did I? Creepy!_

Pulling her self together she walked over to her desk and gathered a few things that she would need in the lab.

_How am I going to explain this to Paul? If he will even let me._

Sighing she poked her head out the door to make sure no one was there and slipped down the hall to the lab. When she got there she was greeted by her Uncle George and a short, middle-aged man.

"Cassie there you are. Did you enjoy your lunch?" Hammond said as Paul walked up to also join the group. He nodded to Hammond and the doctor but completely ignored Cassie.

"The foods nice here." She said trying to give a small smile but failing. She was certain that her uncle had noticed but he didn't say anything.

"Good. Let's get started. This is Dr Jester he was involved in the Stargate program but retired before you joined the program. He agrees with your analysis of the machine and is here to give evidence in favour of your recommendation." Hammond said.

"Oh that's great." She said regaining her composer. "We need all the help we can get." She continued as she shook the older man's hand.

"Now I understand that you have been trying to translate the text on the surface here." The doctor asked pointing to some of the text on the actual artefact.

"Miss Frasier has unfortunately been unable to do so far." Paul said before she could answer. She eyed him up but he ignored her. Shifting her gaze away from him and back to the doctor she continued.

"Dr. Jackson and I have been unable to decipher exactly what it says but we think it is an instruction manual so to speak. It's written in part Ancient part something else, unfortunately it's a dialect that we have not come across before."

"Any ideas as to what dialect it could be?" The doctor asked.

"Daniel has offered the idea that it is marginally similar to the writings believed to be that of the Furlings that SG-1 found in the temple structure on the planet Tantalus." She offered.

"That was the meeting place of the four races, was it not?"

"Yes. To me it seems like a fair estimate. They are after all the only other race in the galaxy that we have not yet encountered." She offered.

"Miss Frasier is only guessing at that though, Sir." Paul interrupted again. She stared at him again but he ignored her.

_Why is he being so hostile? We're working on the same side for god's sake._

General Hammond must have also noticed this odd behaviour coming from his officer because he too eyed up the Major this time. He didn't say anything, instead he announced that he would leave the three of them to it and return in a few hours time.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Three hours later Hammond returned to say that he was heading home. As far as Cassie was concerned he hadn't arrived a moment to soon. Her head hurt and she didn't think that she could take another minute of Paul giving her the cold shoulder. She quickly gathered her things and wished the doctor goodnight before heading out of the lab.

Hammond followed her out only after noticing Major Davis watching her as she left. The younger man looked sadder than he usually did, the General thought as he tried to keep up with the retreating form of Cassie.

George waited until much later before he decided to broach the subject of Davis with Cassie. She was sitting in the lounge after diner reading a book. To his relief it seemed to be of a fictional genre and not work. He sat himself down in his usual chair with the paper and watched her for a few minutes.

"What are you reading?' he asked trying to break the silence.

"It's a romance. 'Knight in shinning amour' type stuff." She said looking up from the book with a sad smile. She then went back to reading, but she sensed that she was being watched. She closed the book and shifted to face him.

"Ok you've been dying to ask me something since we got home. What is it?" She said slightly amused.

"Is there a problem between yourself and Major Davis? I sensed some tension both yesterday and this afternoon."

"Huh! When isn't there tension in him? Anymore and he might snap." She said half to her self but loud enough for George to hear her.

_Well that was a stupid thing to say Cassie. Now you're going to have to explain yourself._

To her surprise her Uncle didn't say anything but continued to just watch her. He had this uncanny ability to get right under your skin with out saying a word. Cassie had seen it used on Jack plenty of times. Finally it got the better of her.

"We had a little misunderstanding." She said but didn't elaborate.

"What sort of misunderstanding" he finally asked.

"He just misunderstood something that happened before lunch." She said "I think I may have hurt his feelings." She finished.

"I see." Was all he said in response but she knew that he didn't truly believe her.

"Well if there is anything I can do just let me know. I don't want this to affect your work tomorrow. Is that understood?" He said.

"Yes Sir" she said grinning and saluting him. He laughed a little and bid her goodnight before leaving. She managed to keep the smile up until he left before curling up and letting a few tears run down her cheek.

_This isn't supposed to be so hard._

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

The next day, she stood out side the briefing room waiting to be called inside. She just hoped that she didn't look as bad as she felt right now. She had gotten no sleep the night before and was barely keeping down the one slice of toast that she had forced down. To top it all off she hadn't seen Paul yet and was growing increasing nervous that he wasn't going to show.

The door opened and Cassie froze. George asked her to come in and take a seat. She looked back down the corridor in the hopes of seeing the MIA Major, but was disappointed. Sucking in a breath and after reassuring her self that _I CAN do this_, she entered and took the offered seat.

"Now Miss Frasier, I'd like to introduce you to Walter Brown a member of the Joint Chiefs and this is Dr Jeremy Longrange."

"Good morning dear" Mr. Brown said with a pleasant smile. The doctor on her left just snorted a little. She eyed him up rising her eyebrow at him and turned back to face Brown and Hammond.

"It's nice to meet you Sir." She replied politely. Just as she finished there was a knock at the door and Paul slipped into the room. He apologized for being late and took a seat next to Cassie on the right, but didn't acknowledge her.

_OK here we go._

"I've read the report that Dr Longrange has put forward and am a little curious as to why you feel it necessary to put a stop to this research project, Miss Frasier." Mr. Brown asked.

"Yes, why is it that a child seems to think that she has the right to dictate what we should and shouldn't use to defend ourselves." Longrange suddenly said attacking her.

_Oh you are so going to wish that you never called me a child._

"Doctor that is enough." Hammond said firmly.

"I'm afraid that the doctor has a point." Mr. Brown said gently address Hammond more than her.

Cassie looked at Paul. He avoided her eyes and she turned back to the other men in the room.

_I guess I'm on my own._

"For a start I am not trying to put a stop to this project." She started before being interrupted by the doctor.

"Yeah right." He said facing away from her as if she wasn't fit to be in her presence.

She ignored the gesture and continued "I am merely here to speak on behalf of a group of linguists, archaeologists and scientists, like your self Dr. Longrange, that believe that deciphering the text on the artefact first to be a wise move before fully powering it up." She answered calmly.

"And where are all these scientists. You were the best that they could come up with?" he replied accusingly.

"Miss Frasier is more than capable of presenting this information to you. She has conducted a fair part of the translation herself along with Dr Jackson." Paul said calmly from his position next to Cassie.

_Finally! I thought you were never going to say anything._

"What do you believe this machine is, Miss Frasier?" Mr Brown asked.

"I agree with Dr Longrange, I think it's a weapon." She stated.

"Oh I'm so glad I have you approval MISS Frasier." Longrange said. Cassie felt her blood beginning to boil and could feel her control slipping.

_This guy is such a jerk. He is worse than McKay. Stay calm and focused. You're doing great._

"I just don't believe that it will act as the Good Doctor thinks it will." She said glaring at Longrange.

"You have absolutely no evidence to back up you theory." He snorted.

"And you do? Did you just become fluent in an ancient dialect that no one has ever seen before?" She questioned looking at him directly. She turned back to face Mr. Brown and Hammond.

"What do you think will actually happen Cassie?" Hammond asked.

"Well like I said to the Major here the other day I don't think it is a matter of 'Point and Shoot' but more of a "flick the switch and god help anyone within its range' kind of deal."

"I see" Brown answered pondering this for moment "and what makes you think that?"

"Colonel Carter believes that fully powered, the out put would be incredibly high. Much more than would be required if it was only selecting a small target. That and there was no sign of life or technology other than it self left on the planet that we found it on. I think it was activated there and what we saw were the results."

"The Gould could have just left it there by mistake." Brown said

"We can't really say for sure on that but there was no sign that they had been to the planet in question, if they had then they would have taken it with them Sir. They don't leave technology behind. Not if it gave power to another race over themselves." Paul said. Brown seemed to except that explanation and pondered on it. Cassie took the opportunity to continue.

"Look we understand what a huge asset this could be if we could learn to control it. All we are asking is that the project be adjusted to first allow us to figure out what is written on the side."

Longrange sat up suddenly "I knew it! This is just another attempt by Jack O'Neill to try and get control."

_Well, well, well now where have I heard that before?_

"Tell me Doctor, do you by any chance work under Senator Kinsey and his associates. Is this little research project that you've managed to get being partially privately funded? Because you're sounding a lot like him right now." She asked him his eyes going wide at the mention of Kinsey. "I thought as much." She said and then turned to the others in the room.

"I can assure you that General O'Neill would like nothing more than to see the back of this device. He certainly doesn't want it on the base. We have enough to worry about with the gate. We just don't want it to fall into the wrong hands." She said looking in the direction of Longrange.

"Well I think that you have given us a lot to think about Miss Frasier. Thank you for your insight. We will adjourn now and make our decision." Mr. Brown said to her standing up.

"Thank you Sir." She said also standing.

"I'll be by later to let you now the outcome Cassie." George said as he opened the door.

He held the door for her and she made her way out smiling at him before making her way back to her office.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

She didn't hear anything all afternoon and she was beginning to worry. She had managed to keep herself busy in her room with some translating. It bugged her that when she had left that neither Paul nor Dr Longrange had, and that they had been included in what transpired after she left.

She was also stressing out about not getting the opportunity to explain to Paul what had happened with Kemp. She tried not to think about it and concentrated on the fact that after today she would no longer have to come here and would soon be able to go home. Being away from all this would give her a chance to work through it properly.

At about 1630hrs there was a knock on her office door and Uncle George stuck his head around the door.

"Ready to head home?" he asked.

"YES!" Cassie exclaimed quickly and practically jumped out of her position on the couch. She gathered her things and hurried to the door where Hammond was waiting for her.

In the car on the way home her curiosity finally got the better of her and she asked what the outcome of the meeting had been.

"Still undecided." George said keeping an eye on the road.

"What does that mean. It can't be that hard to make a decision." She said a little agitated.

"These things can often take weeks to decide. They will want to look at all the material that has been collected." He said.

_WEEKS!_

"But I will get to go home before that right?" she said very worried about the answer to that.

He turned and glanced at her giving her a reassuring smile. "Yes."

"Oh good." She said relieved. She let out the breath she had been holding.

"Now, you're Aunt and I usually go to a social club near the house on a Friday night for dinner. You can join us if you like tonight. That is if you don't mind hanging out with a group of old folks." He said as they pulled into the driveway.

"Thanks for the offer but you go and have fun I'm just going to curl up with that romance novel." She said getting out of the car and they made their way up to the house. George let them in and called out to announce their arrival to Heather.

He then turned to Cassie and said "well we don't leave for another hour and a half so if you change your mind…"

"Thanks, I'm just going to get changed." She said and headed up stairs.

She made it to her room and closed the door, kicking of her high heel shoes, removing her jacket and untucking her shirt from her skirt. She rummaged through her suitcase and found a pair of jeans, a white top with three quarter length sleeves and a v-neck. Changing in to them she also pulled out a brown cardigan that had a tie around the waist.

After locating her comfortable shoes and slipping them on, she unceremoniously threw her self on the bed face down and closed her eyes.

She remained there until she heard the doorbell rang forty minutes later. She had been bordering on falling asleep and was jerked awake by the rather loud noise.

_It's probably just the neighbour or one of Uncle George's kids._ She thought.

Curiosity got the better of her though and she slipped out of the room and leaned over the banister. From where she was she could get a clear view of the front door. But they would not have been able to see her.

In the door way stood Paul talking to Uncle George.

"Is everything alright at work Major? You look a little stressed, son." She heard George saying from the doorway.

"Yes Sir. Everything is fine um I was just wondering if Cass… Miss Frasier was still here, Sir," he said stumbling over his words. From where she was she had a pretty good view of him and he looked like hell.

"I'm afraid I think she is asleep Major but I can tell her you dropped by." George answered looking worriedly at the man in front of him.

"Oh umm… If you could that would be good." He said sadly.

Cassie couldn't take anymore. If she wanted to sort this out then she had to do it now.

_He obviously does otherwise he wouldn't be here. That or he wants to end it! Either way I get some closure so let's go._

She moved to the top of the stairs. Pulling her cardigan around her tightly hugging herself she called out gently.

"It's ok Uncle George, I'm awake." She said moving down the stairs stopping when she had just a few steps to go.


	18. RainDance

Chapter 18

**RAIN DANCE**

"Its ok Uncle George, I'm awake." Cassie said making her way down the stairs and coming to a stop with still a few steps to go.

"Hi" she said quietly addressing Paul.

"Hi." He replied very much aware of the audience they currently had.

_Well this is uncomfortable._

At that moment Aunt Heather appeared in the hallway. She took one look at Cassie then at Paul and quickly deciphered that this looked like it should be a private moment. Thinking quickly she looked directly at her husband and said.

"George dear, your not going to wear that shirt are you?" she said innocently.

_Ah a women's intuition! Never fails._

Cassie had to turn away slightly to hide the grin that was forming as George and Heather past her on the stairs heading to their room.

"I like this shirt" she heard him mumble to his wife as they disappeared into their room.

Composing herself she turned back to Paul to find him still standing where he had been before, hands stuffed in his pockets. Something that she had seen both Daniel and Jack do when they were nervous or uncomfortable.

_Why do men always do that I wonder?…well we need to elevate some of that tension. Being in the boss's house probably isn't helping._

She turned back to face the upstairs and called out.

"Aunt Heather. I'm going out."

Rather quickly Heather popped her head over the banister.

_Well she was listening in._

"Ok Dear. There is a spare key on the hall table that you can take so you can let yourself back in. Your Uncle and I probably will not be back until rather late." She said smiling down at Cassie.

"Thanks. You guys have a good time." Cassie replied and then turned back to Paul who seemed to be looking around the room.

She stepped down the remaining steps and moved over to the hall table and picked up her purse and the spare key. She looked up at Paul who was now watching her.

"Wanna go for a walk?" she asked and then as an after thought added "I think we need to talk."

"Sure" he answered opening the door and holding it open so that she could pass.

They walked down the driveway and turned into the street. They continued to walk in silence for quiet some time. But Cassie didn't say anything.

_He was the one who sort me out tonight so he is the one that is going to instigate this conversation._

Finally he spoke up.

"I'm proud of you." He said quietly without actually looking at her.

"Huh" she replied a little taken back. _Not quite what I was expecting._

"Today, you handled yourself in the most professional way possible… unlike my self. I should never have allowed my personal feelings get in the way like I allowed them to this week. I was supposed to help you and I let you down. I'm sorry." He said still looking straight ahead. She looked at him in wonder at the statement he had just made.

_He thinks I'm angry with him for letting me down in the meeting? That's not why I'm angry. I'm NOT angry! Ok maybe a little angry during the meeting. I'm… what am I? I'm upset about the fact that he hasn't acknowledged that there is more than a working relationship going on between us. Yes. That's it._

"Do you realise that you have not once touched me since I arrived here in Washington." She replied.

This time he did look up at her and he came to a dead stop.

"Paul I'm not angry at you for the meeting… Well maybe a tiny little bit, but not really. If anything you letting me get on with it probably helped me more. I just managed to prove myself to those people quite nicely and for that I'm grateful." They seemed to have ended up in a large park that sat on the out skirts of the city. It seemed to be partially surrounded by tall high-rise apartment buildings.

Cassie took a seat on a near by park bench and after deciding that Paul wasn't going to respond to what she had said she continued. "I'm not angry, more upset that we don't seem to be moving forward. If anything we've moved back." She said.

There was silence for a moment.

"Why didn't you pipe up and say anything yesterday when Kemp showed up?" Cassie suddenly asked out of the blue. It was something that had been bothering her for quite some time.

"Why did you agree to go out with him?" he shot back angrily instead of answering her question.

"I didn't! That's the thing, but you didn't stick around to find that out." She replied feeling the anger in herself starting to rise. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she tried to relax.

"He walked me to my office in the morning and when we got there he just kept hanging around to make sure I was 'OK'. It was kind of creeping me out really, the only way I managed to get rid of him was by saying that I'd see him in the cafeteria at lunchtime. That's all. He unfortunately didn't take it that way and apparently neither did you."

Paul shoved his hands in his pockets again, looked up at the cloudy sky above them, shied and then looked back down at Cassie. She was staring off in to the distance but felt his eyes on her and looked up at him to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry." He said his eyes pleading with her for forgiveness. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusion like that." He said slightly deflated as he sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry too." She said covering his hand with hers. He twisted his hand to intertwine his fingers with hers and she looked up into his eyes smiling slightly.

"We good?" she asked

But before he could answer her, the heavens opened above them and it started to pour down.

"Aghh!" Cassie screamed as they both jumped up from their seated position on the bench and started to run for it. The rain was heavy and by the time they had made it only halfway across the park they were completely drenched.

_Bugger this! It would be impossible to get any wetter!_

Cassie stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the park bringing Paul to a stop with a jerk. He looked back at her in confusion as to why she had stopped but she had already started to circle him whilst still holding his hand.

"Cass we are going to get soaked." He said trying to tug her along with no luck.

"No, I don't think we could get any wetter if we tried." She answered shaking her sopping wet hair around from side to side a little to further her point. She then pulled him lightly towards her, snaking her hands around his neck.

"Dance with me." She said.

He didn't seem to even think twice about this because his arms moved around her waist instantly pulling her even closer to him and they danced around slowly in the middle of the park in the pouring rain.

End of chapter 19

This chapter is inspired by our recent weather.

Hi Guy, I know it's been ages but I had some serious power and phone line issues. I live in Western Australia and it rained. Yes that's right… it rained. I know what you're all thinking… so what? Well I'll tell Ya, you have one downpour during a draught here and the whole State's power and phone lines go into a frenzy. We've spent the best part of the last week in the dark. Bloody Western Power and Telstra.

Having said that the rain ended up being my inspiration for this chapter. Dancing in the rain was all we could do we've been so bored.

Ta

Mya


	19. Miss Universe Indeed

Chapter 19

**MISS UNIVERSE INDEED**

It didn't take long for Cassie to start feeling the cold and her teeth started to chatter.

_Ok maybe this wasn't such a great idea anyway._

Paul also noticed that she was starting to shiver and pulled her closer to him in a hug.

"Come on, we need to get out of this rain or we are going to freeze to death. That is not something I want to have to explain to the General in the morning." He said pulling her in the opposite direction that they had come from. Cassie was about to question this but changed her mind and allowed herself to be pulled along.

He led her towards the high-rise buildings and once out side the park limits headed towards a large expensive looking building.

They were greeted at the door of the building by a well-dressed, elderly gentleman who in seeing them smiled warmly and opened the door for them.

"Good evening Major, you enjoy your walk? Didn't get to wet I hope?" he asked in a pleasant voice looking at the pair of sopping wet individuals before him and taking a second glance at Cassie.

"Evening Joe, knew I should have taken your advice earlier about the umbrella." Paul answered smiling at the older man. Joe gave Paul a knowing look and then shuffled away from the door.

"Here let me get you two some towels." He said slowly making his way over to the lobby desk and pulling out two towels from underneath it.

"We'll be fine, no need to bother Joe. We'll get dry upstairs." Paul said trying to save the old man the trouble.

"Nonsense!" Joe said handing a towel to Cassie. "You'll make my nice dry, clean elevator all wet." He said teasingly to Cassie who couldn't help but smile and giggle at the gentlemen in front of her.

"Thanks Joe." Paul said as he pulled Cassie into the elevator. "Goodnight." He said as the doors began to close. Cassie gave a small wave to Joe who smiled brightly at her. When the doors had closed she turned to Paul and smiled.

"He seemed nice." She stated.

"He is." Was all the response she got although he was smiling.

"And…?" she prodded.

"And by tomorrow evening the entire building is going to know that I 'entertained' a lady friend this evening." He said.

"So?"

"So … I haven't 'entertained' anyone since…" he began but stopped himself from finishing. Cassie didn't push any further because the elevator opened up on the floor they had requested.

Regaining his composer Paul took her hand and led her out of the elevator and down the corridor to a door near the end. He opened the door with his key and stood aside to allow her to enter.

Once she had stepped inside he followed her in and closed the door behind him.

"I'll be right back," he said before disappearing down the hallway.

Cassie took this opportunity to look around the room she was now in.

_Well it's very… clean_

She circled the room being careful not to touch anything for fear of getting anything wet.

The apartment looked over the city through large floor to ceiling windows, making the room appear quite large. The room its self was divided, by furniture, into three different areas. Lounge, dining and kitchen areas.

In the living room were two leather couches with a glass coffee table in between them and a large flat screen television mounted to the wall, with what looked to be a rather expensive sound system attached to it.

A large glass table with six chairs served as the dining area next to the kitchen, which had a beautiful marble surface. The cupboards were, like the rest of the apartment all white and all the accessories in the kitchen were stainless steel.

_Yep VERY clean._

She looked back to the dining area where there was some sort of artwork hang from the wall. She looked at it curiously then it struck her. Apart from it, there were no other pictures or photos in the entire room.

_No wonder he said it didn't feel like a home. It feels like a show room._

"You ok?" Paul said coming up behind her, worry evident in his voice. Startled from her thoughts, she spun around to face him. He had come back looking decidedly dryer than when he left and was holding a pile of clothes.

"Yeah I'm fine, just lost in thought was all." She said "nice place."

"It's ok, it serves its purpose." He said looking around the room.

Focusing his attention back on her he handed her the clothes that he had been carrying.

"Here. Their only air force training clothes so they will probably be too big for you but there dry… do you like Chinese?"

"Huh" she said completely thrown by the sudden change in conversation.

"Its nearly 2100hrs and neither of us has eaten" he reasoned.

Suddenly catching up she replied "oh right, food, yes I do."

He smiled "great, well the bathroom is down the hall on the right and there is a clothes dryer in there so you can put them on to dry. I'll order while you're gone. Any preferences?" he asked

"Lemon chicken would be nice." She said smiling back at him.

"Chicken it is." He said and picked up the phone.

Cassie made her way to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She could not help but think about how this was a complete reversal of the events the previous week. She chuckled lightly to her self and looked around the bathroom.

_Definitely a man's bathroom. In fact the whole place screams 'bachelor pad'_

Not only that, but the place was immaculate. She could actually see bench space. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the bench in her bathroom. She had too much makeup and skin care on it. She couldn't help but stare at the bench.

_Oh this is just wrong. Even for a guy._

She quickly changed and threw her clothes on top of his in the dryer and set it to 'dry'. Then she looked back in the mirror at her self and winced at the sight she was greeted with.

_And this is even more wrong!_

She attempted to fix her hair and rearrange the baggy clothes as best she could.

_Face it Frasier, you look like crap. That'll teach you to go dancing in a downpour._

Smiling at herself in the mirror she turned and opened the door and headed back to the living area. Paul was in the kitchen opening a bottle of wine.

"Are you sure you're not an alien. Haven't been possessed lately?" she quipped and he looked up surprised. "Because I have never met a human being with that clean a bathroom in my life. I didn't even think that a bathroom could _**be**_ that clean."

Sensing that she was teasing him, he smiled at her. Returning the smile she stepped into the kitchen and spun slowly in show.

"I may not be going for 'Miss Universe' anytime soon but at least I'm dry and warm." She said, her eyes dancing.

"Oh I don't know, I think you would make a ravishing Miss Universe in you current attire" he joked putting down the open bottle and stepping closer to her. She laughed out loud at his comment and leaned back against the bench top.

"Oh yes I can see it now. The other 50 women will need to be dragged kicking and screaming from the stage in their $1000 dresses as I, wearing an air force training t-shirt and pants that are three sizes to big for me and sopping wet hair, am crowned"

She said only to trail off when she suddenly realized how close he had gotten to her. She looked up into his eyes as he placed his hand on the side of her face.

"You know how you said that I hadn't touched you earlier?" he asked as his other had slipped around her waist pulling her closer to him.

She suddenly couldn't speak and could only nod in reply.

"Well it occurred to me that I haven't kissed you either." He said his face coming within centimetres of her own.

"Really." She managed to get out before he closed the distance between them, capturing her mouth with his own. Her eyes immediately fluttered closed and her arms snaked around his neck pulling her self up to meet him. He immediately deepened the kiss pushing her back against the bench behind her.

It was then that a strange tune entered her head. She tried to ignore it but it grew louder and more persistent.

_Frasier, your phone._

She let out a moan in frustration as she pulled away from Paul and reached over to her bag that she had conveniently left on the bench. Still encircled in his arms she fished through the bag trying to locate the horrible phone.

"If I don't answer it and its Jack or Sam, they will freak out and trace the call. Then within minutes you will have your front door broken down by Navy SEALS sent to rescue me." She said sarcastically.

He chuckled at her comment as she finally located the offending machine.

"Oh I'm going to kill him." She exclaimed checking the caller id and then answering the phone.

"Nelson Tony Seeker, you have the WORST timing ever!" she exclaimed into the phone.

"Nice to speak to you to Hun" Nelson said "so did I interrupt something important?" he asked innocently, knowing full well that he had.

"Don't give me that 'innocent puppy eyed look' that I know is currently on you face. You know very well that you have." She answered trying to sound angry with him. Unfortunately Paul had taken the opportunity to start kissing his way down her neck, making it very hard to be angry about anything right now.

_Oh good God!_

"Look Nelson can I call you back tomorrow evening when I get back to Colorado?" she said trying to concentrate on the phone call and not Paul.

"BACK to Colorado? Where the hell are you? I swear there's something you not telling me."

"Yep there is but I'm not about to discuss it with you now. I'm…busy." She said wriggling slightly try disparately to get away from the attention Paul was giving to her neck. If she didn't he was going to loose her to a fit of the giggles.

"Ok I suppose but you are going to tell me everything tomorrow. No buts. Ok?" he said.

"Ok. Got it. Bye." She said quickly hanging up with out giving him a chance to say goodbye himself. She chucked the phone back in her bag as Paul came back up to capture her mouth once again.

"So, not that I'm not enjoying myself immensely here, but what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" She asked once he let her come up for air.

"You said earlier that you felt like we were going backwards so I'm moving us forwards." He said looking her in the eye.

"I can deal with that." She said smiling brightly at him, moving in for another kiss but she was interrupted again by the buzzer on the front door.

"Jeez! That 's what you call quick Chinese!" she exclaimed looking over at the door.

Paul just laughed and let her go then headed for the door. "VIP customer." He stated over his shoulder. She leaned over the counter to see him answer the door. There was a little oriental looking man on the other side who immediately started chatting away to Paul like they were best buddies.

After a minute or two the little man peered around the door as if looking for someone. Once his eyes landed on her he smiled brightly at her. She gave him a little wave and he turned back to Paul with an even larger grin. Paul ushered him out paying him and closed the door.

"I think that if Joe hasn't told the entire building of my presence by tomorrow then he will have." Cassie said trying not to laugh.

"I think you might be right about that." He said agreeing with her. He had taken the food to the coffee table and began unpacking it, so she grabbed the bottle of wine and two glasses from the bench and moved over to the couch in front of it.

"Here let me." He said taking the bottle from her and pouring the wine. Handing the glass back to her he grabbed is own and held it up in a toast.

"To…" he began

"…Us" she said finishing.

"Well I was going to say 'Joe and Wong but… 'us' is fine." He teased before taking a sip.

She giggled and also took a sip. Then they dug into the food.

The rain still pelted down outside so they decided to watch a movie. There was only a romance one so they settled for that. Cassie had snuggled up next to Paul and by half way through the movie she had fallen sound asleep.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

As the movie finished Paul looked over at the clock and couldn't believe the time, it was gone midnight. He looked down at Cassie who was now fast asleep. Shifting, but trying not to startle her awake, he moved off the couch and began cleaning up. Hoping that by the time he was done that she might wake up of her own accord. She didn't and didn't look all that comfortable in the position she was in either. If she stayed like that all night she would have an incredibly sore neck in the morning.

He moved back over to the couch and scooped her up in his arms. She was rather a petite person (from the reports he had read, the Hunkarian people were slightly smaller than the average human) but he was surprised at how light she was. As he lifted her she snuggled into his arms. Thinking he had woken her, he looked down at her peaceful face. She shifted slightly in her sleep once again and then settled. He carried her down the hall and into the dark bedroom and placed her on the bed pulling the covers over her. He grabbed one of the other pillows and was about to leave when he heard a small voice.

"Stay." She whispered.

At first he thought he had imagined it but then felt her tugging at him. He hesitated for a moment but she became more persistent. Finally he gave in and climbed in next to her. She immediately snuggled back up to him and settled once again into a peaceful sleep. He soon followed her.


	20. Where the hell are you?

Chapter 20

**WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?**

Before Cassie even opened her eyes, she knew she was in a foreign place. Three things gave it away. 1 the sun generally was not that strong on her face when she usually woke up. 2 there wasn't a pesky little Burmese cat meowing at her looking for her breakfast, and 3 there was someone else in the bed with her.

She cracked open one eye and looked over her shoulder to get a look at who was beside her. To her relief Paul was snuggled behind her snoring ever so slightly. She studied his face as best she could from the position she was in and noted that he looked completely at peace. She turned back and smiled to herself at the sight.

She shifted again to get a better look at the clock on the bedside table. 930hrs.

_Damn. I'm going to have to make a move. Maybe finding some coffee would be a good start._

After detangle her self from Paul, doing her best not to wake him, she headed into the bathroom to freshen up and then made her way to the kitchen. She picked up her phone from where she had discarded it the night before and checked for messages. Sure enough there were several.

The first was from Nelson who was complaining about the injustice of being left out of the loop of his best friend's life. The second was from Daniel letting her know that they had made it back from P3X- what ever and that he had rung the General's house to find her not there, and the third was from Aunt Heather who just wanted to check that she was alright because she wasn't there when they got back and that Daniel had called looking for her.

All three messages had been received within the last hour so she decided she better respond.

She decided to text Nelson first. **I'll ring you tonight and fill you in on all the details.**

Then she rang Aunt Heather and explained what had happened with the rain and that she would be back soon. And then she dialled Daniel's lab number.

"Hello" he answered quickly, his voice lased with tension.

"Hey, it's me." She answered cheerfully "you rang."

"Cassie! Oh thank god! Where the hell have you been? I rang General Hammond and he said that you hadn't come home. We've been worried sick." He said the relief evident in his voice. Cassie rolled her eyes as she busied herself locating the kettle.

"Daniel I'm fine. It's not like they didn't know sort of where I could have been. I mean I left the house with Paul." she berated him for stressing out.

"Well General Hammond doesn't know where you are." He said trying to justify his worry. Cassie rolled her eyes again as she thought back to the previous night and how Uncle George had been completely oblivious to the reason why Paul would had been standing in his door way. She was certain that Heather had had to explain it to him once they were upstairs.

_Then again maybe she didn't._

"Well of course he didn't. He's a bloke. He had no idea what happened last night he was completely clueless to the whole situation. But Aunt Heather does."

"Oh. Well I only spoke to George. So where are you?"

"Where do you think I am Daniel?" she hissed in to the phone getting rather frustrated.

_My God! Men can be SO dense sometimes._

Calming herself down and filling the kettle, she continued, "Look, we have had this conversation before. You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. I am completely safe. I promise."

She heard a sigh from the other end of the phone in defeat. She couldn't help the smile that crept over her features as she realized that she might just have won this argument.

"I know you can. I just panicked a little. I'm sorry. So what happened? Are things ok?" Daniel said.

"There great actually. Well we did have a slight problem with communication but I will explain that later… my god! Where on earth does this man keep his coffee?" She said looking through the cupboard in search of the coffee.

"So you are at Paul's then?" he asked carefully trying not to sound like he was prying.

"Yes Daniel. I am at Paul's." She said triumphantly locating the coffee and trying to now find the cups. "This place defiantly needs a woman's touch. I can't find a damn thing."

She heard Daniel stifle a laugh. "Why don't you just ask him where they are?" he inquired.

"He's still asleep." She said.

"No, I'm not" came a voice from behind her. She spun around in surprise at the voice and then smiled as she saw a slightly sleepy looking Paul coming towards her.

"No, he's not." She said into the phone to Daniel. "Hey can you pick me up at the airport in a few hours?" she said

"Sure. I'll see you there." Daniel said.

"Thanks. You're the best. Bye." She said waiting for his fair well and then hung up.

Paul had made his way into the kitchen whilst she had finished the conversation with Daniel, and had taken over the coffee making duties.

"Good morning. I hope I didn't wake you." She said after putting her phone away.

He reached over and kissed her quickly then answered, "You didn't, in fact I can't believe I slept that long in the first place. I'm usually up at 500hrs."

"Me too. Sleep is not something that comes easily," she said as he handed her a cup of coffee.

"Hey how do you know how I take my coffee?" she said looking down at the drink before.

"Daniel." He said.

_That makes sense._

The expression on his face all of a sudden became very serious.

_Uh oh!_

"Cass, about last night…" he started.

_Oh god! He's going to run again._

"… I didn't mean to push you so far…"he was about to continue but was stopped by Cassie pulling him toward her and kissing him.

She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. "You didn't. Why would you think that?"

"I don't know I just…" he trailed off.

_This is odd. This whole commitment thing seems to be a real issue for him._

"You didn't" she reassured him cupping his face with her palm.

He looked back into her eyes "OK. But you are to tell me if I do. Deal?"

"Deal!" She said reassuring him. "Now that we have sorted that out, I unfortunately need to go. I've got a plane to catch." She said all of a sudden really miserable.

"When are you due back in Colorado Springs?" she asked.

"Not for another two weeks. I think. I'll have to check." He said.

"Great." Cassie said sounding like she couldn't be less pleased if she tried.

"Hey, don't get all sad on me now. We will just have to email and ring each other for the next couple of weeks." Paul said pulling her to him in a hug.

She pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes. "Promise?" she said pleading with him.

_The last time we tried that it nearly ended in disaster_

"Promise." He reassured her. "Now, I should be getting you back so we can get your stuff. You have a plane to catch." He said.

It was then that the realization, and then the horror, of going to the airport hit her. She couldn't help but start to panic.

_Me and him at an airport again. No. I barely survived the last time. It will be ten times worse cause I'm the one who has to get on the plane. No it can't do this again. Not just yet. Ahhh…think._

"Um actually I don't want you there." She said turning away and washing out her cup in the sink. _That didn't come out right at all_.

"Excuse me." Paul said with a frown. She spun around to look at him.

"Sorry, that sounded bad. Came out completely wrong…Um what I meant was that I think that it might be better for Uncle George to take me. In fact, it would probably be best if I made my way back to his place by myself. " She said.

"Why?" he asked, the confusion still evident on his face.

"I need to explain this to him" she said motioning between them. "And well it probably would be best if I did that on my own. He can be a little … 'Gun Ho' sometimes. Like the rest of the SGC he tends to handle me dating someone like he's negotiating with a hostile alien."

Paul's confusion suddenly turned to amusement. "Dating?" he asked.

"Oh I think we can safely say that we are dating. Don't you? You have after all bought me dinner twice now." She said with a smile.

"Ok, but I'm walking to his gate. No buts. This is a new city to you and I will be hunted down if you are not safely deposited back to his house in one piece, weather you have explained our dating status or not."

"Deal. I'm going to get changed. Be right back." She said and headed to the bathroom.

Thirty minutes later they were approaching the Hammond's house.

"So I can expect a little visit from the General on Monday then?" Paul asked as they came to a stop at the gate that led to the front door. Cassie turned to face him and leaned back against the gate.

"Well, I'm going to tell him the truth. I probably owe them that much, I've been a bit moody the last couple of days." She confessed.

"Well considering that part of that was probably my fault, I'm sure I can deal with the 'hurt her and I'll kill you' speech on Monday then." He said with a smile.

"I'll tell him to go easy on you." She said smiling back and looking him in the eyes.

Paul took the opportunity to cup her face with her palm and looked at her like he was trying to memorize every feature on her face. He then looked towards the house and back. "I'd kiss you but we seem to have an audience." He said.

"Oh really? Who?" She asked without turning and not loosing eye contact with him.

"The man in question." He stated. Cassie gave a devilish grin and straightened up.

"Well in that case…" she trailed off as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, pulling him to her by circling her arms around his neck. She relished in the feeling as he deepened the kiss ever so slightly and then pulled away.

"Any more of that and he wont wait for and explanation, he'll just shot me right where I stand." He said leaning his forehead against hers. "I better go he's looking a little irate."

"Ok. See you in a couple of weeks?" she said as she opened the gate and passed through it and closed it again.

"You will. Bye." He said

"Bye" she said and then turned and talked up to the front door. Turning back she saw him walk away, giving her a small wave. She smiled and let herself into the house.

"Hey Uncle George." She said coming into the lounge where he was now sitting.

Before he could respond Aunt Heather came out of the kitchen and spotted Cassie.

"Oh Hello Dear, did you have a good time?" she asked Cassie with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes thank you, I did." She answered and took a seat across from George. "I'm sorry if I made you worry. We kind off lost track of the time. And then it rained…" she said trailing off.

"You know we, as in my self and SG-1, did everything in our power to stop you from becoming involved with Military personnel. We didn't want you to get hurt again like when your mother died." George said with a blank look on his face. His wife looked down at him and scowled but didn't say anything.

_Well I'm sorry but you guys kind of sucked at that. I work at the SGC for Pete's sake, really doesn't get any more military than that._

Cassie remained silent and just watched her Uncle.

"So I'm guessing that the misunderstanding that you had with the Major yesterday was part of what I just witnessed." He asked.

Cassie thought about how to answer this for a moment and then decided on just a simple "yep."

"Well I think you look wonderful together." Stated Heather from her position on the arm of George's chair. He looked up at her in horror.

"He's nearly twice her age Heather and a Major in the Untied State air force." He said

_Why is it that the 'adults' in my life seem to think they can discuss MY personal life and completely ignore the fact that I'm standing right in front of them. I'm really getting sick of it._

"Ok look, for a start he's not that much older than me and second what does him being in the air force have to do with anything?" She asked

"Not much older? Cassie, He's thirty…" he trailed of not really having any idea how old Paul was.

"He's thirty-four." She stated. "Look you don't have to worry about me, ok. I know what I'm doing."

"There is a ten year gap between you and myself, dear." Heather reasoned with her husband. George sighed and looked between his wife and adopted niece.

"Do the others know?" he asked.

"Daniel does. I haven't got around to talking to the others yet. Paul and I only really sorted our selves out last night. It was all a bit patchy before then. We've only been out twice and that includes last night." She said. "I know you're worried but you don't need to be. He's a good man and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt me."

"I'm not really happy about this but if it is what you want I can't really do anything about it, can I?"

"Thank you Uncle George, now promise me you will go easy on him on Monday when you give him the 'hurt and I'll kill you' speech." She said after she had reached over and hugged him.

"I would never…" he started

"Oh please, it's the first thing you're going to do when you get to work on Monday. Don't' worry, he's expecting you." She said with a grin on her face.

"I suppose you better get ready to head home, I'll drive you to the airport if you like." He said

She stood and made her way around the couch. "That would be great. I'm just going to pack my things."

"Ok we can leave in about twenty minutes." George replied

"Thank you Uncle George, for understanding." She said before she disappeared upstairs.

_I think things may just be going my way for a change._


	21. Of Evolution Ancients and Dresses

Chapter 21

**OF EVOLUTION, ANCIENTS AND LITTLE DRESSES **

Cassie was twitching nervously. It was Wednesday and she had been back in Colorado for a week and a half. Today was the day that Paul was due back for a visit to the SGC and she was practically bursting out of her skin in anticipation. They had spoken on the phone every second day since she had been back and now she couldn't wait to actually see him.

Trying to distract her self she moved over to the computer and opened up the Email to check her messages. Scanning the new messages she frowned seeing two from Lieutenant Kemp.

_What would he need to email me about??? Probably just a coincidence, Delete!_

She deleted to the messages, scanned through the remaining few and closed down the program then looked over at Daniel who was sitting at his desk pouring over a book that he had found off world. He had walked in about an hour ago and had told her that he had seen Paul in the corridor and had then promptly sat down and become in grossed in what he was now doing. He was completely oblivious to the predicament that she was now in.

_Or is he? I wouldn't put it past him._

She bounced her knee up and down nervously, trying to concentrate on her own work in front of her.

_Nope, no good! I'm never going to get this done. I hate you Daniel! I mean why did you have to go and tell me that? … I guess I could just go and find him…no he's probably busy. He would have come down if he wasn't._

_Come on Frasier, just concentrate. You'll see him later._

She stood up and stretched, moving her neck from side to side to loosen the muscles there. Then still standing, she picked up the book she was looking over and paced around the office and read. She was finally getting some where in her translation when she ran smack into something and began to fall back.

"Agrh!" she screamed as she fell back, only to be caught by two strong arms. She looked up to see Paul standing over her.

"What did I say about meeting like this?" Paul said righting her on her feet. She looked up into his eyes a little bewildered.

_See that didn't take long at all.  
_  
"Hi" she said not bothering to answer his question. Gaining her composure she continued. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. When did you get here?" she asked.

But before he could answer she heard a snort form the corner. Turning away from Paul she threw a dirty look at Daniel who was watching the whole scene play out.

"And what's your problem?" she asked.

Noticing that he had been caught out, he mumble "nothing" in reply and then got up to leave. "I'll be in Jack's office if you need me. Behave." That last comment was aimed directly at Cassie.

"Funny." She shot at him as he walked past them and out the door.

Paul watched and waited until Daniel was completely out of view then leaned in and kissed Cassie soundly.

"He said behave." Cassie teased as she pulled away. "Not that I wasn't enjoying that."

"I missed you." He answered. "I would have got down here sooner but I was accosted the second the elevator door opened when I arrived this morning. In fact I only made it here now because I'm on route to the infirmary."

"Oh" she said pretending to be hurt but failing miserable because she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Sorry. I can't stop. But there is something really important that I need to talk to you about." He said

_Oh crap!_

She must have looked panicked because he quickly jumped back in.

"Oh no, no, it's nothing like that. Mind you, _**you**_ may change _**your**_mind about us when you here this. I've made a reservation for dinner tonight so I'll pick you up at about 7pm. Ok?" He finished as he started to move away.

_What the hell is he talking about?_

"Hang on, I'm supposed to be angry at you for taking me out to dinner?" she asked, confused.

"No… the dinner is to butter you up for what I need to ask you." he said having now moved to the door. "I'll see you then." He said and disappeared.

She turned back to her desk, completely confused.

_What the…_

Paul reappeared in the door "oh I forgot to mention, wear a dress."

"Why?" she asked spinning back to the door.

He didn't answer but tapped the side of this nose and then disappeared again.

_Ok, if I wasn't confused before now I really am!_

She sighed as she slumped on her stool and looked around the room. "Now I'm never going to get anything done." She said aloud to the empty room.

"I'm hungry." She stated and then promptly left the room for the canteen.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

The lunch menu was surprising good today considering they where eating army food Cassie thought as she sat at her table and watched the other airman in the room.

_Mind you, you'd be hard pressed to get salad wrong. If they did I'd be worried._

As she fished through her salad for a cherry tomato at the bottom she heard Sam approaching. She looked up and gave her a smile as she took the seat opposite.

"Hey, how's you day?" she asked.

"Pretty good. We got a message from Atlantis this morning so that's pretty exciting." Sam answered.

"Ah, that would explain why Paul said he was so busy earlier" she said looking back through her salad.

"Paul, who?" Sam asked confused.

_Oops!_

"Sorry Major Davis" Cassie corrected hoping that Sam wouldn't question her on why she would be using his first name and not rank like everyone else.

"You spoke to Major Davis?" Sam asked in question.

_Double Oops!_

"Um just in passing." She answered trying to cover her tracks.

_Quick change the subject_

"So what's new in the Pegasus Galaxy?" she asked.

"Oh you know, they are managing to escape death at every turn making more enemies than friends. The usual." Sam said off hand.

"Now why does that sound familiar?" Cassie teased.

"I don't know what you mean." She stated, and then smiled.

"I'd love to go there." Cassie said in wonder.

"You would, why?" Sam said looking shocked and a little apprehensive.

"Don't worry Sam I'm no about to go gallivanting across the universe. I'd just like to see it one day. It would sort of be like closure in a way." She said in reassurance.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked

_Well that was useful from one mess to a bigger mess. Good one Frasier!_

"Just the whole 'Nirrti' thing. She tried to use me to make an Ancient. Or at least finish the evolutionary process. My people and I do have the gene." She said in reason.

"I never knew that you had thought about it."

"Not a lot. It just occurred to me a few years back is all."

"But you didn't retain any of the powers that you had when Nirrti conducted the experiment." Sam tried to reason with her.

_Oh well here goes. I'm not going to say anything. She's smart she'll work it out for herself._

Cassie didn't say anything but just looked her in the eye. Sam locked eyes with her. Suddenly her eye widened in realization.

"You do." She breathed out.

_See, I knew she would._

She leaned over the table to get closer so that no one would hear. "Why didn't you tell us? Does any one else know? What are you able to do?"

"Calm down Sam. It was Mum who didn't want me to say anything. She didn't want me subjected to a load of scientists and stuff. I'd been through enough. As for who else knows? Nobody." Cassie answered. Sam said nothing but leaned back in her chair.

"From what Mum said and what I've been able to get my hands on, my abilities are slightly more advanced than Jack's or Colonel Sheppard's. The way I figure it, those two are the next step in evolutionary process to becoming what my people are. Were. And that Nirti was trying to make me the next step on from that." She said but Sam looked confused.

_There's a first. I'll have to mark this date in my diary._

"Basically, I can still move things with my mind. But it's under control this time. If anything it's a stress reliever."

Sam looked at her and pondered what she had said.

"We have to tell Jack about this." She stated

"Why." Cassie challenged. "No ones known about it for years. Why change it now. Mum would kill me if she knew I'd told you."

Sam remained silent for a little while and Cassie was growing nervous.

"Ok for the time being you're right, the less people know about this the better. But if it becomes necessary, we will have to say something."

"Excellent. Sam you're the best." Cassie smiled brightly. She knew that it must have taken a lot out of Sam to put the science nerd inside her aside to say that.

"Now on another subject. You know those two dresses that I've got, the black halter neck one and the green strappy one, which one is better?" she asked.

"Wow! From ancients and evolution to fashion. You're on a roll today." She commented laughing slightly at the dramatic change in conversation. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh come on I'm just interested in you're honest womanly opinion." She said

"Okay, well it would depend on where you were going I guess. I'd have to say that the black one would be more you're 'knock em dead date' type dress and that the green one would be more you're 'summer picnic with the family' type dress."

_Ok defiantly the black one._

"Hum… I think your right." She stated "I'll see you later. I've got to get back to work." She said suddenly getting up.

"What! But… why did you ask me that?" Sam said also getting up.

"Just making conversation." Cassie said smiling. "Bye" she said and left.

If she had stayed she would have heard Sam say to nobody in particular…

"There is something defiantly going on with that girl. And it's more than just Ancient Genes."


	22. Date

Chapter 22

**DATE**

Cassie looked at herself in the mirror after applying her lip-gloss.

_Hum…not bad if I do say so myself._

The dress that she was wearing was a knee length, black halter neck that swept low in the front. It was made of a material that was quite weighty but when she moved from side to side it moved freely. It clung to her body perfectly and if she was to spin it would float out beautifully.

Putting her lip-gloss away she checked herself once more in the mirror then looked at the clock to check the time.

_7pm_

At that exact moment the doorbell rang. Moving towards the door she smirked.

_He timed that. No one is that accurate even if they are in the Air Force._

She opened the door to reveal Paul standing on the doorstep with his hands behind his back. As he saw her his jaw dropped.

_Yep defiantly the black one._

"Wow" was all he said taking in the sight before him.

"Well you said 'dress' so…" she trailed off swishing from side to side slightly.

"I did." he stated. Seeming to recover from his daze he handed her a bunch of yellow and peach coloured roses that he had had concealed behind his back.

"You look beautiful." He said stepping up to her level and kissing her on the cheek.

She couldn't help but blush. "Thank you." She said "and thank you for these, they are lovely?" she asked as she moved aside to allow him in then closed the front door.

"I'll just put them in a vase "she said and he followed her in to the kitchen. She found a vase and arranged them in it and put it on the dinning room table.

_He remembered no red roses!_

"So where are we going?" she asked with excitement.

"Dinner." He said.

"Well I gathered that. Where?" she asked.

"Nope, not telling. You'll just have to wait till we get there." He said and ushered her back to the front door. He opened it and allowed her to pass. She grabbed her purse and shawl and moved outside.

"How are we going to get there if you don't tell me where we're going? I do after all have the car keys." She said jiggling the keys for emphasis and trying to get more information out of him.

"Nice try, I borrowed one of the Base's sedans." He said rolling his eyes at her.

_Damn it! I don't like surprises. They make me nervous._

As he said this she noticed the black sedan parked on the street just off to the side. He opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in the car.

"You're not playing fair" she said getting in. He didn't respond but smirked and closed the door before taking his seat, starting the car and pulling out on to the road.

Cassie tried several times in the journey to get their destination out of him but failed miserably.

"You really don't like secrets, do you?" Paul asked chuckling. Cassie threw him a dirty look which only made him laugh louder.

"It's not that I don't like them it's just usually easier for me to break the person who's keeping them. You are a hard nut to crack." She said with a huff.

_Not even Tealc holds out this long. _

"Well my secret is about to be out the bag so you can relax." He said as they turned and Cassie could finally see where they were going. They pulled up in front of a small restaurant that Cassie recognised straight away and her eyes began to tear up.

"Amore?! You're taking me to Amore?!" she whispered turning from the window of the car to face him.

Amore was the first 'grown up restaurant' as Jack had put it, that she had ever been to. Her mother and SG1 had taken her there to celebrate a particularly good report card. It was only a few months before Janet had died. It was a small intimate Italian restaurant, owned by an Italian couple, the food was fantastic and they usually had live music and dancing after meals was encouraged. It was that night that, of all people, Jack had taught her to slow Waltz.

She had loved it there and had wanted go back ever since but the others had been reluctant, they said they were worried that she would get upset not having Janet there. In truth she had the feeling that it was _**them**_ that didn't want to go back there with out Janet, but she never said anything.

She reached over and cupped Paul's face in both hands and kissed him. "Thank you" she said pulling away, the unshed tears falling. He reached up and wiped them away with his thumb.

"You're Welcome" he said and got out of the car so that he could get her door for her. Once she was out of the car he took her hand and they made their way inside. They were met at the door and shown to their reserved table in a secluded corner. Taking her seat she waited until the waiter had left then asked "How did you know?"

Paul seemed to think about his answer before deciding on a simple "Daniel."

"This morning?" Cassie asked realising that Daniel had not been totally honest with her earlier in the day.

"_Saw him out the corner of my eye" indeed!_

"Ummm…" He said not really wanting give Daniel away

Cassie smiled at his failed attempt "It's ok! I'm not going to kill him. I'm glad he told you. I love it here!"

The waiter returned and took their order and fetched the bottle of wine that Paul requested.

"So, are you going to ask me now or what?" she asked, referring to the favour that had prompted this dinner, as the waiter poured them both wine. Paul didn't answer and waited until the waiter had left.

"No. Not yet. You need to just relax and enjoy your self." He said.

_DAMN IT!_

Before she could protest the food arrived. It was lovely and by the time they had finished the main course she had forgotten about the 'question' that she was supposed to be asked.

Between the main course and the desert Paul had pulled her out of her seat and began dancing with her slowly to the live music. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. She had never felt so comfortable in her life.

"You know how we said that we were going to keep this to ourselves for the time being?" he asked as they moved softly to the music.

"Mmm" she answered snuggling into his shoulder more.

"Well I kind of told…" he started to say.

_WHAT! _

Cassie's head shot up off of his shoulder before he could finish his sentence, her eyes now wide with horror. She took a step back from him but was still encircled with in his arms.

"Who did you tell?" she asked, really dreading the answer.

"My mother." He answered with a worried look on her face. He was not looking forward to her reaction but it wasn't what he expected.

"Oh thank God for that." She said in relief letting her head fall back to his shoulder.

"Excuse me." Paul asked in confusion.

"Well you nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were going to say that you had let it slip to Jack or something." She said looking back up at him with a smile. But he still looked stressed.

"You don't understand. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving." He said.

"So?" she quipped

"So she is now expecting me to bring you along." He said as if it was completely obvious as to what he was talking about.

"Oh well that could be a little difficult but not that big a deal." She said. Not thinking much of it. "I'll just tell the others that I got a better offer somewhere else. They'll understand. Well… Daniel and Jack will understand they've tasted Sam's cooking. It's not a complete lie." She said thinking out loud.

"I don't think you understand the magnitude of this Cassie. I mean. It is my family." He said.

_He is really having a hard time dealing with this. I wonder why. It can't be that bad._

"I think you're over reacting a little here Paul. It can't be that bad." She said trying to reassure him.

"MY family. All _twenty _of them!" He said

"TWENTY!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.

"With one on the way." He added. Cassie eyes went even wider than they already were. Paul had never really talked a lot about his family. Cassie had just thought that he was an only child.

"And you didn't think to mention this early. Not that it would have changed my mind or anything. I just assumed you where an only child. Small family."

"It's complicated." Was all he said and looked away as if he couldn't bring himself to look at her right now.

"Then why did you tell your Mother?" she asked trying to get his attention back on her.

_I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work. We ARE GOING to talk about this._

"I didn't mean to. She worked it out. She is a very…perceptive." He said almost whining.

_Oh he is so cute when he does that. How can I resist that?_

"Ok, so we go for dinner. No big deal." She said

"No it _**is**_a big deal. My parents live three hours away by car and we all go there for a long weekend. We will have to stay in the same house with twenty other people for four days." He said taking her by the shoulders as if he was drumming the information into her.

It worked.

"Oh." She said.

"Exactly." He said.

_Ok we need to turn this around._

"Well… if your mother wants us there then we will be there." She stated. "It can be are first engagement as a couple." She added with satisfaction.

"But…" he started

"No buts. The way you put it she will not take no for an answer. So we will just have to go." She said as if ending the conversation.

Paul took the hint and gave up trying to talk her out of it. "I hope you realize what you're getting yourself into." He said pulling her back towards him and resuming their dance.

After a little while they headed back to Cassie's house. Once she had let them in she checked the answer machine and sure enough there was a message from Sam.

"I'm going to head back to the Base." Paul had said after he had heard the message. "You'll probably be on the phone for a while anyway. And they may be looking for me." He said walking back to the door.

Cassie was about to tell him to stay but she got the feeling that he wanted to leave.

_I think all the talk about families has worn him out._

"Ok." She smiled at him "You're probably right. This will take awhile." she said pointing at the phone.

She walked over to him and kissed him. "Thank you." She said. "I had the best night."

"No, thank you. You are a brave woman to take on my family." He said running his hand down her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow before I leave. Ok."

"Sounds like a date." She joked and opened the front door. He stepped out and made his way down the path. She waited until he was back in the car before closing the door.

_Well that was interesting. Meet the Parents. Humm. You've got a lot to think about Frasier._

End of chapter 22


	23. Meet the Family

Chapter 23

**MEET THE FAMILY**

"SWEET HOME ALABAMA!" Cassie sang along to the tune on the car radio at the top of her lungs.

Not that they were anywhere near Alabama but she didn't care. She had always loved this song. Up until now she had been content just listening to the radio but when this song had started playing she couldn't help herself. Paul could only laugh at her from the driver's seat as they made the three-hour drive to Paul's parents house.

She continued to hum the tune as the song finished and the radio started playing through some adverts.

"Hey can we stop at the next road house? I'm thirsty." She said taking her eyes off the passing countryside out her window and looking at Paul. She met his eyes and he looked away quickly knowing he had been caught staring at her again. She stifled a snicker as he righted the car after realizing that they had drifted off the road a little.

_BUSTED!_

"You know, if you really want to stare at me you can, but it might be a good idea if I drove. That way we wont end up in the ditch." She teased poking him lightly in the arm.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly glancing at her quickly and then back at the road. "It's just that I've never heard you sing before. You're quite good."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." she said with a smile as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Glancing out the window she saw in the distance a gas station. "But what will get you even further is you pull over at that gas station." She said batting her eyelids at him. He rolled his eyes and without answering he signaled to pull off the road.

After coming to a stop she jumped out of the truck and grabbed her purse. Paul also got out deciding to fill the car up with petrol. She waited until he had filled it then asked him if he wanted any thing from inside.

"A stiff drink." He said rolling his head around to loosen the stiffness. The last few days had been hard for him, she knew. He had not stopped stressing about this trip since they had decided to go.

He had returned to Washington for a few days to make sure everything was in order so he could have the long weekend off and had rung Cassie constantly with excuses why they shouldn't go, but she had fobbed him off every time. Mainly because the excuses he had given were pretty pathetic and were defiantly not the real reasons he didn't want to go.

"Very funny. Coke?" she said rolling her eyes at him.

"Yep." He said defeated. She moved inside and grabbed them both a drink and a bar of chocolate.

For good measure

Paying for them and the petrol she headed back out to the truck. Paul had walked away from the truck and was kicking the dirt around with his foot.

"Here" she said coming up to him and handing him his drink. "How much further?" she asked looking towards the road.

"Thanks." He said excepting the drink. " Not far. Another forty minutes or so." He said trying to smile at her but failing miserably.

She laughed at the solemn look on his face and stepped closer to him taking his face in her hands. "It's going to be fine." She said reassuring him before she kissed him. It seemed to have the desired affect because he eagerly returned the kiss.

"Just promise me that if it gets to much for you, say something. Ok?" he said pulling away from him.

"I know that you're trying to protect me, but you don't have to. I will be fine." She said.

"Promise me." He insisted.

"I promise." She said laughing at him for being so paranoid.

He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. Lifting her off the ground.

Jeez! If I had known that that was all it was going to take to change his mood I'd have done that a week ago!

"Come on" he said putting her down "we better get going. We are already late and mother will be chomping at the bit by now."

"Well that's your fault, not mine. You were the one stalling. And I will be telling her that. The last thing I need is to be blamed for keeping her son away from her." She scolded him, getting back in the car.

"I know. I know." He said getting them back on the road.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Twenty minutes ago Cassie had been fine. Now… not so much.

They had just pulled up the driveway to a beautiful large house and were sitting in the car.

"Ok, now I'm nervous." She stated looking at the house through the front window of the car. She glanced over at Paul who was watching her.

"You will be fine." He said clasping her hand in his.

My, how the tables have turned.

"How many people did you say there were?" she said turning her gaze back to the house.

"Twenty. Mum, Dad, two sisters, two brothers and there partners, nine kids and Nana." Paul said also looking at the house.

"Wow." She said.

No pressure!

"Sure is a big house." She added, gulping.

"I grew up in this house. We all did." Paul said.

Cassie pulled her gaze away from the house and looked over to him. His face was full wonder, as he looked it over.

"Lot of memories, huh?" she said raising her eyebrow at him.

He looked at her and smiled "You see that tree over there?" he said pointing to a large tree in the front garden. She nodded looking at it. "I broke my arm falling out of that tree. My older brother pushed me." He said.

She eyed him as he continued to look at the tree. He seemed to be content here. All the worry that he had had over the last week seemed to have eased completely as they had driven up the driveway.

Whatever the problem is it isn't about his family or childhood.

He looked back to her. "Come on. Lets get this over with." He said opening his door and making his way around to her side. He opened her door and helped her out. Pulling her to him, he kissed her and then grabbed their bags out of the car. Taking her hand in his they made their way to the front door.

Before Paul could open the door it was thrown open and a little girl came running full pelt though it.

"UNCLE PAUL!" The little girl shrieked as she launched herself at him. He quickly dropped the bags he had been carrying and scooped the girl up in his arms.

"Ellie!" he said greeting the little girl who hugged him furiously. "How's my little munchkin."

"Well…" the little girl started to say but was interrupted by an older women coming towards them followed by a man.

"Ellie! For goodness sakes, at least let your Uncle in the door." She bristled lightly at the little girl.

"He is in the door Grandma. Look" she said pointing to where Paul was standing in the doorway.

Paul put the little girl down and she immediately ran off down the hall shrieking to anyone that would listen that they had finally arrived. Cassie, who was standing behind Paul, stifled a giggle.

"Mum, how are you?" he said hugging her tightly. It was only then that the woman saw Cassie.

"Hello there." She said in a slightly shocked voice, pulling away from Paul.

"Mum, Dad I'd like you to meet Cassandra Frasier." Paul said to them as he pulled her into full view.

"Hi." She said timidly but managed a smile. Paul's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"It's lovely to finally meet you, Cassandra. I'm John and this is my wife Mary." Paul's Father piped up, seemingly recovering from his shock and pulling his wife closer to him and giving her a little nudge.

"Cassie." She corrected them politely. To which John smiled brightly and mary seemed to snap out of her trance.

"Well let's not leave them standing in the doorway dear." John said, "Come on in and meet everyone." He ushered them down the hallway and into the largest kitchen Cassie had ever seen. The room was full of people.

"Everybody this is Cassie." John yelled out.

All the people in the room looked up form what they were doing and yelled out hi's and hello's.

"Paul's father pried Cassie from Paul's grip around her waist and offered her a seat at the table. "We'll worry about names as we go along I think. You'll never remember them all. Can I get you a drink? The kettles on. I'm about to do the biggest drinks run in world history." He said moving towards the bench.

"Coffee would be great." She said.

I like this guy.

He busied himself with the task ahead and Cassie tried to take in the room. There were two other women sitting at the table. One with short brown hair, and the other with platinum blonde hair.

The brunette smiled at Cassie "hi I'm Erin, Paul's oldest sister and this is Alicia. She's married to Paul's brother. Welcome to the mad house." She teased.

"Thanks." Cassie smiled. She looked around to locate Paul. He was standing in the corner talking to his mother who seemed to be talking very seriously to Paul about something. Paul caught her gaze, smiled, said something to his mother and ended the conversation.

Ok something defiantly going on there.

He moved over to the table and hugged his sister and sister-in-law in turn and then took the seat next to Cassie.

"I hope your not telling lies about me, Erin." He said eyeing his sister carefully.

"Why brother dearest, I'd never do such a thing." She said innocently.

"Yes you would" said a male voice from behind them "hello little brother, how ya doing."

"Tom , good and you." Paul said standing and shaking the man's hand before hugging him.

"Not as well as you I see." He said looking at Cassie making her blush.

"Hey!" Alicia protested slapping the man on his arm playfully. "Do you want to sleep on the couch in the kids room tonight?" she threatened.

"Tom, this is Cassie." Paul said "Cassie, my big brother and Alicia's soon to be ex husband." He teased directing the last part of the statement at Tom.

"Pleased to meet you" she said shaking the man's hand.

"Tom, what have you done with my husband?" Erin then piped up as she looked around the room.

"He's still out side chopping up the wood with Justin and Jason. I came in to see what the holdup on the drinks was." He looked over at his dad who just waved him off.

" As usual it is all Paul's fault." He said, teasing his brother once again.

"Thanks a lot. I've barely got in the door and you're already blaming me for everything." Paul shot at him playfully.

Tom just winked at Cassie and headed back out side. Cassie giggled softly to her self.

This is unbelievable. I never would have guessed that Paul's family would be like this. They are so happy.

She looked around the room once again taking in the interaction between the different people. The little girl from before came running back in with another little boy, who took a tumble as he came to a stop. Another girl, who looked to be about sixteen, closely followed them.

"Hey Uncle Paul, how's it going?" she said casually as she picked up the little boy from the floor. "You alright, Matey." She said to the little boy who just grinned at her.

"Wow, Katie when did you get so tall." Paul said looking at the tall girl next to her.

The girl just gave him a look that said 'don't even go there'. Taking the advice Paul changed tactics.

There's the diplomatic liaison we all know and love.

"Katie, this is Cassie." He said introducing the girls.

"Hi." Katie said eyeing up Cassie as if she was some sort of competition and then turned away and looked at Erin. "Mum is it alright if I go up the road now? I really want to see Toby before dinner."

"Sure. Just be home in plenty of time for dinner. You know what meal times can be like around here." Erin said.

"Thanks." She said looking for a place to dump the child in her hands. Deciding that Cassie was the closest person to her she plopped the little boy on her lap. "Thanks." She said with out waiting for an answer.

"KATIE." Erin called out in annoyance, at her daughter's rudeness.

Cassie looked down at the little boy, slightly stunned at the course of events that had lead to her current position. The little boy seemed quite happy though and just looked up at her and grinned.

Butter wouldn't melt. He is adorable.

"Hello there. And what would your name be?" she asked the grinning child.

"Benj… Benj…" he tried to say.

"Benjamin." Paul said looking at the little boy on Cassie's lap. "Sorry about that. Katie is entering her difficult teenage stage. Here I can take him." He said

"No it's ok. I don't mind holding him. He's adorable." She said tickling the child softly. He broke out in to a fit of giggles and squirmed on her lap. Ellie who had been watching from besides her Grandma's leg decided that she wanted in on the action to and came to stand next to Cassie.

"Hello." She said tugging on Cassie's jeans. "You're new. What's your name?" she asked.

"Ellie this is Cassie." Paul said to her.

The little girl regarded Cassie for a moment then said. "Want to see the playroom?"

Surprised at the question Cassie looked up at the adults at the table. She noticed that Paul's mother seemed to take particular interest in this turn of events.

Why do I get the feeling that I'm being tested here? She doesn't trust me. The thing is what does she want me to do. Do I stay with the adult conversation or go and play with the kids?

Cassie looked back down at Ellie who had pleading eyes looking at her. Benjamin also seemed to like the idea of going to the playroom too as he started to fidget in her lap.

Bugger it! I'm not going to disappoint the poor girl she really wants me to go with her.

"Sure. I'd love to see your play room." Cassie said standing up from chair and placing Benjamin on her hip. Ellie grabbed her other hand and started pulling her towards the door that lead away form the kitchen. "If I'm not back in twenty minutes come rescue me." She said to Paul before she was pulled from the room.

The playroom was actually the basement that had been boarded up and turned into an extra room. Stepping down the last of the stairs she found herself in a large room. Half of it was covered in mattresses and the other half was covered in toys. Playing on the floor were two other girls and a boy, slightly older than Ellie.

" Oh don't tell me my two have started picking up strangers now?" said a female voice from behind her. Cassie turned around to see a rather heavily pregnant woman making her way down the stairs, the gleam in her eyes telling her that she was joking.

"Hi. I'm Alana, Paul's baby sister. Or so I'm told." She continued.

"Hi. Cassie, Paul's…" she trailed off not really knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Girlfriend?" Alana proposed.

"Yeah, I guess so." Cassie said deep in thought.

"Only just hit you huh." Alana said taking Benjamin from Cassie's arms.

"Something like that. I guess it just became a whole lot more real."

The woman smiled at her.

"Tell me about it. When I met Tim's mother for the first time I didn't know what to do with myself but now look at me." She said patting her swollen belly. Cassie smiled at Alana as her attention was drawn away from her and to her son. Cassie then felt Ellie tugging at her jeans again.

"Come and see my dolly's. They are over here. "She said pointing to the other children.

"This is Emma and Brooke, They are twins. And that's Thomas. They are older than me but I let them play with me." She said matter of factly.

"Well that very nice of you." Cassie said as she sat down on the floor with the rest of the group.

"Everyone this is Cassie. She's new." Ellie announced to the kids.

"Hello" the twins answered in unison.

"Hi." Thomas said and then quickly turned back to the game boy he had in his hand.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Cassie was introduced to all fourteen of Ellie's dolls and three bears. They were about to start on the Pony's when Cassie heard footsteps on coming down the stairs.

"Cassie?" she heard Paul's voice before she saw him.

"I'm down here." She said waving slightly at him as he came into view.

He knelt down next Cassie and Ellie who had her head inside a toy box.

"Thought I better come and make sure you hadn't been swallowed by a toy box or something." He said looking at Ellie fishing through the box.

"No. But I may be buried alive by toys if I'm not careful. She said picking up the closest doll and looking at it. Paul smiled at her and then turned to the rest of the occupants of the room. He noticed Alana in the corner in a rocking chair. Benjamin had fallen asleep on her stomach and she too, seemed to be dozing slightly.

"Ellie, do you think that I can have Cassie back now?" Paul asked Ellie as she came out of the box with a 'My Little Pony'.

She regarded her Uncle for a moment, as if she was weighing up the options.

"Cassie, will you read us a story after dinner tonight?" she asked turning to Cassie.

Cassie looked at the little girl in slight shock. "Sure, I guess I can do that." She said giving Paul a questioning look.

"Ok. Then you can go with Uncle Paul." she said giving her permission.

"Why thank you, Ellie." Paul said and helped Cassie up off the floor. Cassie smiled down at the little girl.

"I'll see you later, Ellie." She said as they headed up the stairs.

"BYE!" they heard her shout from the basement.

Cassie couldn't help but laugh when they got to the top of the stairs.

"She is so cute." She said to him, as he pulled her along with him towards another set of stairs that lead upwards.

"She sure knows how to get what she wants." Paul answered.

"I'd say she has a very bright future in politics." Cassie said. " Maybe you can put her in touch with some of your associates." She said as Paul started to ascend the stairs, pulling her along as he went.

Hang on a minute. Aren't we supposed to be going back to the kitchen?

"Uh Paul, the kitchen is that way." She said pointing down the stairs.

They had made it to the top now and he pulled her along the hallway at the top. They came to a closed door.

"I thought that we could both do with a little breather from that lot down stairs." He said opening the door. Walking backwards he grabbed both of her hands and pulled her in to the room.

"Well that sounds like a very good plan. Where are we?" she said looking around. The room was quite large and had a double bed, chest of draws, desk and wardrobe in it. The walls, and bedspread were a rich navy color and the rest of the furniture was made out of a dark wood. On the walls were several pictures of planes and ships.

Three guesses whose room this is.

She turned and smiled at Paul. Who was also admiring the room.

"My room." He said looking at her.

"NO?" she said sarcastically, but she couldn't keep the smile off of her face.

He said nothing and just closed the distance between them and kissed her soundly. He pulled away before either of them got carried away.

Probably best since this mother is down stairs.

"Thank you." He said locking eyes with her. The gaze that he pinned her with was breath taking.

"What for?" She said. Trying not to get lost in his gaze.

"All of this. For making me come here after all, for making the effort to get to know my family. Just for being you." He said never letting his eyes leave hers.

God, if he keeps looking at me like that…why would he think that I wouldn't want to meet his family?

"Of course I would want to get to know you family. Ok, so they may be a little daunting to begin with but they are a part of you… Why would I not want to get to know them?" she tilted her head a little and regarded he for a moment.

He held her gaze a moment longer. "Never mind. It's not important." He said smiling at her and kissing her again.

"Lets get unpacked and get ready for dinner. Dinner time in this place gives new meaning to the phrase 'feeding time at the zoo'." He said pulling away and moving over to their bags. This seemed to end the conversation so she went about sorting through her bag. But she couldn't help think about what he had said and the sincerity behind it. Not to mention that piercing gaze that he had pinned her with.

Strange.

End of chapter 23


	24. Feeding time at the Zoo

Chapter 24

**FEEDING TIME AT THE ZOO**

Cassie and Paul continued to unpack their things in moderate silence, giving Cassie plenty of time to think over the events of the past few hours. It was during this time that Cassie remembered the reaction that Paul's mother had had towards her. It was obvious that Mary had been very weary of Cassie from the moment that they had stepped in the front door. That was evident by the hushed conversation in the kitchen between Paul and Mary.

Deciding to find out what had been said, Cassie waited for Paul to come out of the en suite to ask him about it.

"What were you and your mother talking about earlier?" She said trying to make it sound like she was just trying to make conversation, rather than fishing of information.

"When?" Paul asked as if he had no idea what she was talking about, but actually knew exactly what conversation she was referring into.

Figuring out what he was up to, she sighed inwardly.

_This is the problem with trying to have a conversation with him. He treats every conversation like a Russian negotiation! _

"The one in the kitchen. You and your mother were hiding in the corner. Hushed tones were being used and the conversation seemed to come to an abrupt end." She stated.

"Oh that one… um…nothing much really. Why?" he said shrugging as he sat down on the bed, trying his best to dismiss it as nothing.

"No reason, just checking… seemed a little heated is all." She replied as she busied herself with closing her now empty bag.

"Everything is fine now. Don't worry about it." He said smiling at her, but she could tell that he was hiding something from her.

_Everything is fine NOW? That means that is wasn't._

"What _**was **_wrong then?" she prodded. She had a feeling that she may be pushing it slightly but she had come to far now to back away. If she did it would nag at her for the rest of the trip.

"Look Cassie its fine…" he began. Cassie just raised her eyebrow and lowered her head slightly at him. He knew that look. He had seen it a hundred times before, but not from her. He also knew that that look meant business.

"You look just like your mother when you do that." He said fondly at the memories.

"Good." She relied.

He was slightly taken back by her response. It had not been what he had hoped for, but thinking about it and the look that she had previously given him he knew that he shouldn't be surprised.

She continued when she didn't get a response. "You know what it means then. Come on out with It." she stated

"Sound like her too." He grumbled to him self. Seeing the look that he got for _**that **_comment he decided that he better answer her. "Okay, okay … I didn't tell mum how old you were when I told her about you on the phone. She was a little shocked…"

"…and suspicious?" Cassie questioned finishing his sentence. She came to sit next to him on the bed. He looked at her slightly confused.

"She's not suspicious of you." He said.

"Oh believe me, I was defiantly being tested down there. It's a women's thing. You wouldn't understand. Something about me taking away her 'little boy' from her." she explained to him, giving him a pat on the cheek.

"Actually it was a bit of both, I think. She was concerned about the sleeping arrangements. She wanted to move you in with the older kids. I disagreed." He confessed looking at her, waiting for a reaction. He must have miss took the look on her face because he quickly added, "I mean if you would be more comfortable with them I would understand. No pressure." He looked away as if dreading the reply.

Cassie just laughed out loud at him and punched him the arm lightly. "What do you mean? I just unpacked all my stuff. I didn't expect to be anywhere else but with you." She said barely able to contain her laughter.

"So your okay with this?" he said looking around the room, he appeared to still be a little confused.

"Of course I am! Paul, we've shared a bed before. Besides we are hardly about to get frisky with twenty other people in the house, one of which being your mother." She reasoned.

This seemed to ease his tension a little. "Good. I thought for a minute there I would have to go down stairs and tell her that she was right. I would never have heard the end of it." He said letting out the breath that he had been holding.

"Excellent. Glad we got that sorted." Cassie said triumphantly. She started to stand but was stopped by Paul's hand grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her back down. He turned around to face her and pushed her back lightly.

"Nearly sorted." He whispered to her as he followed her down, covering her with his body before kissing her fully. She relished in his kiss as his hand ran up and down her side. She moaned softly into his mouth as her own hands moved over his shoulders to circle around his neck. He pulled away allowing her to breathe before trailing light kisses down her neck.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"HEY YOU TWO, DINNERS NEARLY READY!" came a voice that sounded like Erin, through the door.

Cassie groaned, as Paul pulled further away from her. "I swear we are never going to get the _**chance**_ to get even a little bit frisky." She said remaining where she was. "Do you think that if we to just ignore them that they would forget we were even here?" She added with a tinge of hope in her voice.

"No! And the next person to come up here will be my mother." He said standing and offering a hand to Cassie. She accepted and he pulled her to her feet.

_Right. Probably best if we avoid that scenario. _

"Damn it!" she said only half angry as they left the room and made their way down stairs.

On entering the dinning room, Cassie realized that nothing could have prepared her for the sight in front of her. There were adults and kids everywhere.

_Oh My God!_

Cassie had expected it to be somewhat like the mess hall on the base at dinnertime, but what she was now witnessing was ten times worse. The noise alone was deafening.

What looked to be the normal dinning table had been pushed over to allow a second table to be brought in. this table had all the kids sitting around it and the adults were at the other. Paul pulled Cassie to two empty seats at the 'adult' table. Cassie looked around at all the people and realized that she had only been introduced to half of them.

At the head of their table was a kind looking elderly lady who smiled brightly at seeing Paul enter the room.

"Paul my boy, I've missed you!" She exclaimed. Paul immediately moved over to her chair and gave her a big hug. She in turn gave him a big kiss on the cheek and retuned the hug furiously.

"I've missed you too" he said and then turned to Cassie. "Nana, this is Cassandra Frasier. Cassie this is my Grandmother, May."

"Everybody just calls me Nana." May said addressing Cassie warmly. "Welcome to the family!" she exclaimed then looked towards Paul for a reaction.

Paul just shrugged at his grandmother and took the seat next to Cassie.

_Well that was weird! I'm not sure If I should be offended by that or not._

Deciding to ignore her grandson for the moment May turned her attention to Cassie.

"Have you met everybody yet dear?"

"Um no, not quite." Cassie said looking around the table.

"Paul! You should have introduced her!" She scolded. He only looked at her guiltily.

"Give them a chance Nana, they've only been here two hours. Most of that time Ellie spent introducing Cassie to all the toys that we had to lug here." said Alana, coming to her brother's defence.

"Right, we better put some names to faces then," said John from the other end of the table. "Let's see… you've met Erin, next to her is her husband Peter. You've met Tom and Alicia, and then we have Sarah and her husband Scott…"

"Sarah is Paul's twin." interrupted May. Cassie looked up in surprise at Paul who just smiled slightly and looked away.

"Yes Mother, I was getting to that. Thank you." John replied slightly annoyed at the interruption. "Now where was I? Right. Then last but not least that's Alana and her husband Tim. I think that we will worry about the kid's names when the need arises." He said looking over at the kid's table. Everybody else also turned to look in that direction just in time to see Benjamin stick his hand in his drink and knock it over. The kids all screamed and jumped away from the table.

"Katie! You were supposed to be keeping an eye on Benji!" Erin exclaimed as she and Alana got up and started cleaning up the mess. Katie just shrugged then turned her attention elsewhere.

_That girl seriously needs to grow up._

After the mess had been cleaned up and Benji had been changed. Mary brought out the food from the kitchen. "Right everybody sit so we can eat." She exclaimed. Everybody obeyed and she started dishing up the casserole.

_Oh nice choice. Easy to make in mass quantities. And wow it smells great._

Once everyone had food in front of them things seemed to calm down considerably. But after desert the noise started once again.

"Right all kids upstairs to use the bathroom and into PJ's please." Erin announced

"Sarah I believe that it's our turn to supervise 'shower time'." She added over her shoulder.

"I'm right behind you Sis." Sarah answered ushering out a group of kids through the door.

"Cassie and I will take the dishes." said Alana struggling slightly to get out of her chair. "You boys are in charge of getting the fire lit in the living room so that we can dump the kids in front of the TV with a Disney movie." She added as she grabbed Cassie and pulled her into the kitchen.

"I'll supervise the boys" Nana said linking arms with Paul and following the boys into the living room.

Once in the kitchen Cassie offered to wash.

"I'll wash if you like." Cassie said filling the sink as Alana found the tea towels.

"Works for me. I can't bend over the sink anymore. Besides you wouldn't know where anything is." Alana said looking slightly relieved. "I hope you don't mind me volunteering you. I thought that we could have a girly chat."

"Sounds good." Cassie said as she contemplated the dishes before her.

"So… how did you meet my brother?" Alana asked, taking the first clean dish from Cassie.

"You don't know?" Cassie asked al little confused.

_Surely Paul has told them all about us._

"We only found out about you last week. When Mum told us that she had spoken to Paul about Thanksgiving." Alana explained.

"Oh" Cassie answered with a frown on her face. _Why do I get the feeling that I would never have found out about his family if we hadn't been invited here? I mean he has a twin for god sake. Why didn't he tell me about that? It's not like he isn't close to his family. They all seem to love each other very much. _

Glancing at Alana, Cassie could tell that she was still waiting for an answer. "Well, we kind of work together, sort of." She said.

"Doing?" Alana prodded.

"Ok. Surely you know what Paul does for a living?" Cassie said looking up in surprise at the question.

"Of course I do. Kind of… he's a Pentagon liaison. Liaison for what, I have no idea. Top secret apparently." The last sentence was delivered with a little sarcasm.

Cassie giggled lightly at the expression on Alana's face.

_It would appear that Alana doesn't take her brother very seriously. Now careful how you answer this Frasier. Honesty will probably be the best course of action; I'll just leave out a few details._

"I work for the military. Translations." She said off handed.

"What on earth could the military want translated?" Alana asked.

"You would be surprised who the military keep on the pay books." Cassie answered trying to get around the real question that Alana had asked. Alana had obviously been trained not to ask too many questions when it came to Paul's career because she seemed to take Cassie's answer as the end of that question.

"So what about family then?" she asked changing the subject.

"Both my parents died when I was eight. And I was lucky enough to be adopted by one of the people who took care of me at the time. She worked where I work now." Cassie answered trying not to give too much away. Alana picked up on the past tense though.

"Worked?" she asked

"Mum died about five years ago." Cassie added looking up at Alana.

"Oh I'm sorry, sickness? No don't answer that I shouldn't pry."

"No it's okay. And don't be sorry. She died doing what she did best. Saving some one else's life." Cassie said with a smile. "Because of her, a four year old little girl, with the name Janet, gets to grow up knowing her Father." Cassie said fondly, remembering the last time she had seen little Janet.

Alana couldn't help but smile back at the look that was on Cassie's face, she was about to ask something else but was interrupted by Erin bustling into the room.

"I swear I am going to strangle that kid before the weekends out." She said throwing herself into a seat at the kitchen table.

"Katie again?" Alana asked.

"Yep! I just don't know what to do with her. She has become so difficult lately. She has now decided that instead of spending the day with us tomorrow she is going off with that boy down the road to some Rave." Erin exclaimed.

"She sound's like me at that age." Cassie said off handed. Both women seemed to straighten at this comment.

"Well you seemed to turn out alright… and you're closer to her age than anyone else. Do you think that you could try talking to her? What did your mother do to snap you out of it?" Erin said hopefully.

_Oh crap!_

"Well, what I went through, I wouldn't wish upon anyone. And I don't think it's really my place to interfere but I'll let her know that if she wants to vent I'm here to listen." Cassie offered.

"What do you mean? What did you go through?" Alana asked.

"Don't answer that. My sister is so nosey." Erin said looking at Cassie and then as Alana. "You can't ask that. It's private." She scolded.

"It's okay, really. The usual teenage angst really, then I got very sick and after that Mum died. It kind of put things in to perspective for me." Cassie answered, thinking back to the time Nirrti had once again decided to play God.

"Wow." was all Alana could say. Erin was still looking at her sister with a disapproving look.

"Yeah well, I've lead a very full life in my twenty one years." Cassie said cheerfully trying to lighten the mood.

"You would have only been about fifteen or sixteen then? Did you know Paul then?" Alana asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"ALANA! Enough with the twenty questions." Erin said.

"It's okay really… um I knew of him. I didn't actually meet him until till about six weeks ago." She said going over the imaginary calendar in her head.

_Wow! Seems longer than that._

"So he knew your mother?" this question came for Erin, her curiosity now getting to her. She got a questioning look from both Cassie and Alana. "Oh I heard what you were talking about before."

_Eves dropping huh! _

"Yep! And the rest of my extended family. They all work in the same place." She explained.

"Hey you two! You better not be giving Cassie a hard time in here." Paul said coming into the room and moving towards Cassie.

"We would never do that!" exclaimed Alana, as if offended.

"Yeah right." Paul said staring at Alana. "Wouldn't put anything past you. The movie's about to start and it looks like we are all going to watch it. You coming?" He said address the three girls in front of him.

"Yeah! We're done here." Said Alana after looking between the other two girls for their approval.

Alana and Erin headed out towards the living room with Cassie and Paul close behind.

"You okay?" he asked her. She seemed lost in thought.

She refocused and shot him a brilliant smile. "Yep! Just processing all the information of the day." She said.

"Are you sure?" he asked not completely convinced.

"Positive." She said finding a seat in the crowded living room.

_Maybe not quite I'm still bugged about why you never mentioned to your family that you were seeing someone before last week._

Deciding to leave it for now she settled in to watch the movie with every one else.

End chapter 24


	25. Too Young To Understand

**_To new readers of 'Out of the blue' welcome and enjoy! (You can skip this first bit)_**

**_To my loyal readers, Yes, I know, it has been years. _**

**_First off I'd like to thank you for picking up 'Out of the Blue' again after so long. _**

**_I finally have been able to finish this story (Yes thats right FINISH!!!!) in just over 40 chapters (Ok, so I haven't quite finished the epiloge but I WILL). A lot has happened in my life over the last few years and I hope that that has had a positive influence on my writing, as such I decided when I started writing again that I would edited and improve all my previous chapters so I suggest that you might want to reread this story from the beginning ( I completely re-wrote chapter 22, i've always hated it )_**

**_The next few Chapters are a little angsty but stick with it, all will be well in the end!_**

**_Once again thank you for your Patience and Enjoy_**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

* * *

Chapter 25

**TOO YOUNG TO UNDERSTAND**

The movie had not gone late but Cassie was nearly asleep as the credits began to roll on the screen. She had managed to snuggle as close to Paul as was appropriately possible in present company and now did not want to move. She was happy and content and wouldn't change a thing.

Movement around her helped her to refocus on the room and she could see Scott, Tim and Sarah picking up their sleepy children. Ellie was squirming in Tim's arms fighting the need to go to bed.

"But Daddy, Cassie was going to read us a story…" she whined half heartedly only to be cut off by her own yawn.

"Not tonight sweetheart" Tim replied heading for the door "its way past bedtime and the others are already asleep."

"But Daddy….." Ellie whined again squirming further in his arms as she tried to look towards Cassandra and Paul still seated on the couch and Cassie couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe she can read to you tomorrow when you are all more awake" Cassie heard Tim say from the hall as he headed down to the makeshift 'Kids Room' in the basement.

The room slowly emptied out as the older kids also headed off to bed and the adults went to supervise. John was heading off to make one last round of hot drinks for the night and May was snoring lightly in her chair in the corner leaving only Cassie, Paul and his mother in the room.

A slightly awkward silence fell over the room as Mary looked anywhere but at Paul and Cassie. Paul must have also sensed the unease in the air because he shifted slightly.

_Oh Dear! There goes my good mood_

Wanting to break the silence Cassie spoke up "Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm beat! I think I'm going to head up stairs for the night". She shifted into a better sitting position and waited for some sort of response.

Mary seemed to screw her face up slightly but turned away to hide her expression and Paul sighed quietly. "It's been a really long day, I think I'll join you." He said quietly to her ignoring his mother. He stood and held out his hands helping Cassie up, then keeping one of Cassie's hands within his, turned to Mary who was starring out the dark window.

_So the conversation from this morning did NOT end…_

"Goodnight mum, see you in the morning." He said. Mary turned from the window and eyed the couple in front of her, then returned her gaze to the window again.

Cassie could feel the tension rolling of Paul in waves and tighten her grip on his hand and tugged it as if to leave. But Paul it seemed had not finished with his mother "Mum…"

Before he could say what he needed to say John had reappeared in the doorway and immediately had assessed the situation.

"Paul it's alright. You two head up to bed, we'll see you at breakfast." John interrupted and stepped into the room so that Paul and Cassie could leave.

Both Paul and his mother turned to John in surprise and Mary pursed her lips in annoyance. With a little more force than before, Cassie pulled on Paul's hand and started to make for the door, sensing an argument forming and not wanting to get into an argument with anyone right now.

_Come on guys not now, let's just enjoy the great day we've had!_

They were almost out the door when Mary finally spoke up making eye contact with Paul. "This is not a good idea. This is only going to end like last time…" Paul seemed to sag at this comment.

"Mary." John said in warning "Leave them alone…. Goodnight you two, off you go."

_Well I don't need telling twice_

Again Cassie tugged at Paul's hand and this time successfully pulled him through the door and headed straight for the stairs. Once in Paul's room he dropped her hand and moved away from her putting some distance and the bed between them.

_He's distancing himself again _

Hoping to distract him and lighten the mood she started "I had a good day today, your family are great, large, but great." She waited for a reaction but got nothing.

_Right! We need to sort this out once and for all_

"Ok…You really need to explain to me what is going on because I am really confused. I thought you said you sorted things out with your mother earlier and what did she mean by 'last time'?"

"I should never have brought you here… we shouldn't be doing this …it was stupid" he said more to himself then her.

_What?_

"What, because of what ONE person thinks! Ok so that one person IS your mother and I know that this was probably a little sooner than most couples wait before introducing their parents but we haven't exactly been doing things by the book here." She challenged.

"No! Not ONE person! If I remember correctly you weren't to keen on those close to you finding out either." He retorted

_Whooh! Were did that come from!_

"So this is now MY fault? I don't even know what _**it is**_ we're fighting about!!!! What happened 'Last Time'????" Cassie throw back, she could feel the heat of her anger flaring up through her face.

"It doesn't matter!" Paul snapped beginning to pace.

"Well apparently it does since it was just thrown in our faces down stairs and it's not the first time it's come up either." Cassie could feel her control slipping and her mind losing focus fast.

"What! Who's been talking to you about this? It is nobody else's business but mine!" he yelled advancing toward her slightly. "I knew that this was a bad idea but I let myself get talked into it." He stopped moving and finished much quieter this time.

_I'm SO confused!_

"About coming here?" she questioned

"All of it!" He said with a dead voice and an equally dead expression on his face.

Cassie stared at him and all of a sudden felt extremely cold as all the blood drained from her face.

_He's shutting me out_

"What are you saying" she whispered trying very hard not to let her voice crack.

"I'm saying…. I can't let this happen. I can't let US happen." He said looking directly at her for the first time.

Cassie flinched back as if he had physically hit her and the light over head flickered slightly. To Paul it would seem like nothing but Cassie knew she was doing it and needed to get a grip before it got worse. "But … I… I don't…. we…" she struggled to get out.

"We need to stop fooling ourselves into believing that we have any future here. Too many people are going to get hurt. It's not going to work Cassandra." He stated.

"Too many people…? The only two people this is hurting, right now, is you and me and it wouldn't be if you would stop trying to run from me!" she argued.

"I'm not running, I'm being practical! Just you and me? What about everybody down stairs? What about your own family? You can't see how a relationship like this can affect those around us, you're just to young to understand."

She deflated! He had gone and done the one thing he had promised never to do. He'd gone and treated her like the child her family still thought she was, and it hurt. She was speechless.

The silence was deafening. She was frozen to her spot and was having a hard time processing anything other than the words of his last sentence.

"You can have the bed tonight I'll take the couch in the living room. I'll have a car come pick you up first thing in the morning. I…. I'm sorry I put you through this I should never have let it get started." He said also looking deflated and in pain. Without waiting for a reply he left closing the door quietly behind him.

Cassie stifled a sob with her hand as her legs gave out underneath her and she crumpled to the floor and once the tears had started there was no stopping them. She curled up on the floor holding her self and let her grief take hold.

The lights flickered more prominently this time.

End of Chapter 25


	26. Keep It Together

Chapter 26

**KEEP IT TOGETHER!**

She wasn't sure how long she was on the floor but after awhile her brain seemed to go into protective mode. It seemed to shut down all of her emotion. She had experienced the same thing when Janet had died. There would be time for falling apart but now was not it.

_I can't BE here! I need to get out of here! NOW!_

Picking her self up off the floor she looked over at the bedside clock. 12:30 am. She had been on the floor a good hour. She grabbed her phone from her purse and dialled for a cab. She was in luck, there was one in her area and it could be there in fifteen minutes. Wasting no time she grabbed her bag and quickly stuffed her things in it taking no time to be neat, then rushed to the en suite to grab her toiletries.

Looking up she caught a glimpse of her self in the mirror. She didn't recognise the girl staring back. Her face was swollen from crying and her eyes seemed dead.

_Later! Now you need to get out of here!!! _

Snapping out of it she grabbed the remainder of her stuff and chucked it in the bag, sealed it and threw on her coat. Grabbing her purse and bag she took one more look around the room making sure she had everything and then as quietly as possible left the room, and made her way down the stairs.

_Just a few more metres to the door and I'm out_

"Cassie Dear, where on earth are you going at this late hour?"

Cassie spun around at the bottom of the stairs to find May coming out of the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand. Cassie must have looked a right state because May suddenly rushed forward towards her with concern etched all over her face.

"Cassie, Child, what's wrong? Have you been crying?" she asked with worry in her voice and Cassie could feel her resolve slipping away again.

_Keep it together! Keep it together! Keep it together!_

"I… I have to go home." Was all she could manage to get out.

"Goodness Child it's the middle of the night. Can it not wait at least until morning?"

"No I… I have to get out of here now!" she whispered suddenly realising how close they were to the living room. She could NOT deal with seeing…..

_NO! Keep it together! Fall apart later. _

"Sweetheart what happened? Surely it can't be that bad? Come into the kitchen and I'll make you a nice cup of tea and we can talk about it." May said gently whilst trying to coax Cassie into the kitchen.

"No… I…Can't! I….." Cassie struggled to say before slumping slightly against the banister. "He….. Doesn't want me" she whispered.

"Who doesn't want you sweetheart? I don't understand. " May asked but almost immediately she realised who Cassandra was talking about "You mean Paul? What on earth would make you think that? I've never seen him so happy than this afternoon with you. Is this about what Mary had to say earlier? Don't you listen to a thing that silly woman said."

"He…. said….after….." Cassie struggled to say, her eyes jumping from the front door to the closed living room door and back again.

_You're nearly there! Keep it together! _

Just then she heard a car turn in to the street and honk its horn. The brief interruption helped her to refocus on her task.

_Cab! Go!_

"I'm… sorry May, I have to go. I never meant to cause any of your wonderful family any hurt, but my being here is and I can't …stay where I'm not wanted…. I'm so sorry, I have to go." She spoke quickly inching towards the door and opening it as her tears started again.

"Cassie, Honey, Wait!" May tried in vain to call her back but she was half way down the path to the waiting cab before she could reach the front door herself.

Once at the cab Cassie turned once more to May and solemnly said "I'm Sorry" before getting in and the cab pulled away.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

After the cab pulled away Cassie gave directions to a 24 hour car hire place in the area then once again pulled out her phone and dialled Daniel's number.

It rang five times before a very groggy Daniel answered. "Hullo"

_Keep it together! Keep it together!_

"Daniel." she spoke trying to keep her voice as steady as possible but failing miserably.

"Cassie? Is that you? What's wrong? Are you alright?' he fired off sleep immediately leaving him and concern evident in his voice.

_Not yet! Keep it together!_

"No I…I'm coming to your place. I had to leave. Couldn't stay there. He doesn't…." her voice broke off before she could finish.

"Cassie, Honey, you're not making any sense. Where are you?" Daniel asked.

"I'm in a cab…going to the car hire place so I can drive home…. I NEED TO COME HOME!" she replied with a little hysteria slipping into her voice, catching the attention of the driver.

"Ok! Ok Cassie! I need you to calm down ok! I'm coming to get you. You can't drive like this. Get the cab to take you to the motel on the Highway and I'll be there in a couple of hours." Daniel said gently.

Cassie sniffed in defeat and whispered "Ok" into the phone.

"It's going to be alright Cassie! I promise!" Daniel said "I'll be there as soon as I can, ok?"

"Ok" she replied hanging up, and giving the new directions to the driver, slumped back in her seat.

_Keep it together! Not long now. Keep it together!_

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was nearly 3 o'clock in the morning and Cassie had been pacing in the motel room that she had booked for about an hour and half. She couldn't keep still and was ringing her hands impatiently whilst she waited for Daniel to come and get her. The lights flickered over head and she glanced up at them.

_You NEED to calm down! The last thing you need is to lose control and blow the fuse._

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

_Daniel_

She flew to the door and practical ripped it of its hinges to get it open "Daniel" she whispered and threw herself at him. He caught her in a big hug and held her close, and then the tears came.

_You can let go now._

End of Chapter 26


	27. Normalcy, What's That?

Chapter 27

**NORMALCY, WHATS THAT?**

Daniel managed to pull her back into the room, closed the door and moved over to the bed without letting her go. He sat down, pulling her with him and just held her as she started to uncontrollably sob all the while watching as the lights above him once again flickered.

After a good ten minutes it was time to find out what had happened. Not last night Daniel had left Cassie at home excitedly packing for her long weekend holiday away. He hadn't seen her quite so happy in a long time.

"Sweetheart, I need to know what happened" he asked gently prying her away from him. He didn't get a response but the flickering lights eased up. Deciding to change tacts he asked her with concern "Cassie, are you doing that to the lights?"

Her sobs lessoned even more and she looked up at the light and nodded her head miserably "I'm Sorry." She said "I don't mean to."

"No, no it's ok!" he reassured her "just checking. How long has that been happening?"

"I don't know, it never really went away after Nirrti." She replied.

Daniel looked shocked "You mean that you've been making lights flash for over five years and no ones noticed?"

"Um, not exactly… can we not talk about it right now?" she asked. All the crying was making her head hurt and she really didn't want to get in to it at the moment.

"Ok, what would you like to talk about?" Daniel asked not wanting to push her but wanting to know why he was sitting in a motel room at three o'clock in the morning three hours from home.

Cassie was silent for a long time, trying to get her emotions, and the lights, to calm down. Eventual both were back under control.

"He doesn't want me." she final said. "He said that it was a mistake getting involved with me. I…." she had to stop to take a breath as another wave of despair flowed over her "I'm just so confused! One minute everything was great and the next he's telling me it should never have happened. I don't understand Daniel, I just don't understand!" she had began to cry again but this time it was just a few tears and not the gut wrenching sobs from before.

"How about you start from the beginning" he urged.

She tried to collect her self so that she could explain as best she could. She took a deep breath and started "Ok, umm… Everything was fine this morning when he picked me up, he was a little nervous at first but things were good. We got there and everybody was absolutely lovely, well, everyone but his mother. Turns out that he had left the bit about my age out and she was not impressed but he told me that they had sorted it out and that everything was fine. She was very nice to me and never let on that there was a problem so… I didn't think on it again. That was it until it was time to call it a night and then things got a little heated between Pau… him and Mary, his mother, again. Still John, his Dad, came in and diffused the situation and we headed off to bed. But as soon as we got in the bedroom he shut down again. We argued and he said that the whole situation was a mistake and that he should have never let it happen…. I just don't understand Daniel. What did I do wrong? Did I push him to hard?" she said with despair.

"I mean I know that something happened 'last time', what ever the hell that means, but no one will tell me what that is."

"Does he know you've gone?" Daniel asked.

"What does it matter? He was going to send me away in the morning like some orphaned child anyway… Like I don't know my own way back?" she said sarcastically. "I'm not a child!" she paused for a moment calming her anger. "He wasn't in view when I left so I don't know,…but he probably does know by now, as I was trying to leave I ran into his Grandmother., poor May, she's probably worried sick, I was in such a state when I left."

Daniel didn't know what to say so just rubbed her back in comfort and she sagged again as fresh tears ran down her face. "I thought I had finally found someone that I…" she tried to say.

"I know sweetheart, I know. But these things have a way of working themselves out, maybe he just needs some time to think" he said trying to reassure her. "Come on scoot up the bed and try and get some sleep. In the morning we'll go home and I'll do my very best to keep you distracted for a while. Ok? I've got a doosie of a translation for you. That damn machine has been giving out a some kind of signal and is transmitting some sort of data but again it's not something we're familiar with."

Cassie couldn't help but smile a little at Daniel's dismal attempt at making her feel better. Only he would think that translating was the best fix for the situation. Still, the distraction and normality of it would be nice. She got up and he moved up the bed so that his head was resting against the head board she joined him and snuggled up to him. She was asleep before her eyes could even close.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

They had returned home the next day, but Cassie was still in to much of a state to go to the SGC. So she had spent most of the next four days in bed crying as she watched sad midday movies and the likes. But by Monday even she wanted the distraction.

_I can't sit here moping all day! I'm doing my head in!_

Daniel was right she had to get back to some sort of normalcy. So she headed to the Base for a full day of mind numbing translation. Problem was that the minute she got there people were asking how her holiday was. Other than Daniel no one knew where she really had been and they were under the impression that she had gone to New York for the holidays to see Nelson. So she was forced to lie about seeing him and what they had got up to. This only made her think more about her real holiday or lack there of. She had found herself on the verge of tears several times in the day and had to excuse herself before she made a sceptical herself. She only hoped that her running out on people was not causing suspicion. Luckily she had yet to see Jack, Sam and Tealc as Jack and Sam had been in a meeting all morning and Tealc was helping with some combat training in the Gym.

Daniel for the most part was being an angel. He would leave her to herself and had stopped asking if she was ok every five minutes, for which she was most grateful.

The machine that was slowly becoming the bane of Daniel's existence but Cassie's saving grace was proving to be quite the puzzle. Luckily whilst Cassie had been away Washington had, for the time being, decided to leave the damn thing in SGC hands.

It was nearly lunch time and Cassie knew that no matter how good Daniel was being he was going to make her have lunch with everybody else in the Mess Hall. She was just waiting for the dreaded clock tick over to 1 o'clock.

As if on cue, Daniel put down the text he was using and looked over to her. "Time for a break and some lunch, don't you think?" he said walking over to her bench.

_Give it a go, he might leave you be…_

"Oh you go ahead I still haven't checked my emails for the last few days besides I'm not really all that hungry anyway." She said before turning to the computer and pretending to ignore him. No such luck. He sighed, removed the laptop from in front of her and spun her chair around to face him and looked her straight in the eye.

_Or not…_

"Cassandra Frasier, you are going to come with me to the Mess hall and have a proper lunch with your family. No excuses." He said firmly.

"But my ema…" she tried

"No Buts." He interrupted. "I have left you alone as much as possible the last few days but I _**KNOW **_you haven't been eating properly and Sam will have my butt if you get sick." He said then paused "I know you're hurting and the last thing you want is for everyone to be asking how you are but you have to face people eventually. Even if they don't know what has been happening. You can't hide in here for ever. People will start to suspect that there is something wrong. You want to avoid that don't you?" He reasoned.

_Oh well! Worth a try._

Cassie's shoulders slumped in defeat "Yes, I know."

"Come on, we'll just tell people that you are a little under the weather." He said pulling her out of the chair, guiding her out the door and turning towards the Mess Hall.

When they arrived at the Mess Hall Jack, Sam and Tealc were already at their table with full trays. Cassie took a deep breath and they made their way over to the table.

"Hey, guys" Daniel said trying to keep things as up beat as possible.

"There you two are! Daniel you missed a _riveting_ report on the solar anomalies of P3X 274 this morning." Jack started up sarcastically.

Sam rolled her eyes in annoyance "it was 247 not 274 and it _is_ interesting to some of us." She retorted.

"Well, why did _I_ have to be there?" Jack grumbled

"Because _you_ are in charge." Sam retorted, apparently rank was right out the window today. Jack must have been playing up the 'I'm going to be stubborn and pretend to be dumb but sarcastic' more than he usually did as it was one of the only things that would have Sam this angry at him.

Cassie's eyes began to tear up as she listened to her family bicker about something that was so ridiculous, but to her so normal. Unfortunately it didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sam said getting up.

_Damn! Think quick!_

"Oh, just missed you guys is all." She sniffed.

"Are you sure, you look a little pale Kiddo?" Jack said also getting up.

_I am NOT a kid!_

Daniel physically winced next to Cassie at the name knowing that that was a touchy subject at the best of times least of all now. But Cassie remained surprisingly calm.

"I'm not feeling the best, probably picked up something on the plane back from New York. You know how it is?" she said then quickly added "and don't call me that."

Jack sent her a winning smile and sat back down, buying the explanation. Sam however seemed to need a little more convincing. "Maybe you should get checked out in the infirmary."

"No, I'm just tired. I'll be fine." Cassie replied.

"I don't know…" Sam began to say but was cut of my Daniel

"I'll keep an eye on her. You worry too much Sam."

"Yeah Carter, give the kid a break. Probably to much drinking." He said with a wink in Cassie's direction.

"Don't call me that!" Cassie said again moving to one of the empty seats.

"Cassie, aren't you forgetting something?" Daniel prodded throwing his head towards the food tables. Cassie rolled her eyes, sighed and got up. Fighting him on this one in front of everyone was not worth the trouble.

She grabbed a light salad and jelly cup so that she would at least have something in front of her and reclaimed her seat. She played with the salad for a while and listened to Jack and Sam continued to bicker about their morning. She had nearly made it through the lunch break with out being asked about her weekend until Sam suddenly asked her how Nelson was.

_Damn and the lying begins_

"Oh you know, Nelson was Nelson. Full of life as usual" she replied praying that she was convincing.

_There… not really a lie. Nelson IS Nelson most of the time._

"What did you do? See any of the sights?" Asked Jack

"I would like to see the Statue of Liberty" piped up Tealc for the first time surprising everyone at the table. They often forgot that he was actually sitting there, he was so quiet.

"You haven't seen the Statue of Liberty?" Cassie asked hoping to steer the conversation away from her for as long as possible.

"I have not." He replied looking at her.

"Huh, what else would you like to see?" She asked

_Wonder how long I can keep this going_

"The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and Alaska." He stated needing no time to think about it.

"Anywhere in particular in Alaska, big guy? It's a big place." Jack asked now hooked on this line of questioning.

_Mission accomplished. _

The conversation continued for the rest of the meal and soon it was time to go back to work. As they walked back to the lab Daniel said "that wasn't so bad was it?"

"Suppose not." She admitted as she made her way back to her desk to check email.

"Hey how about we all go out for dinner tonight?" he asked "we haven't done something like that for ages. Last time we tried we ended up cancelling…." He started then trailed off as he realised he was talking about the evening they were all supposed to go to the movies and then they had had to cancel at the last minute, leading to Cassie and Paul going on their own and that therefore leading to her current predicament.

"Don't push it." She said bluntly "Lunch at work is as good as it's going to get for awhile." Her tone definitely alerting him to the boundary he was pushing. She sighed.

"Look I know you are trying to help and I love you for it but I need to be sad and depressed for a bit. It's the best way I know of dealing with things. It's how I dealt with mum, and it's how I'm going to deal with this. I can pretend with the others but I can't with you."

He regarded her for a moment and then crossed the room and pulled her into a big hug. "Ok! I'm sorry. I just hate seeing you like this." he whispered into her hair.

"I know and I am trying, it's just that I can't get over how quickly things changed when I thought everything was fine…. I don't know, maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. But I miss him." She whispered back as the tears started again.

"I know, have you heard from him at all?"

"No." she replied her voice breaking a little with emotion.

"I still think when he's ready you will." Daniel said knowingly trying to reassure her.

"We'll see." She sighed. She was not going to get her hopes up, it would kill her when she was disappointed.

She shut her eyes tightly willing the tears to stop and buried her head further into Daniel's chest.

After a few moments she pulled her self together and Daniel released her. "Ok, now can I check my email?" she asked Daniel.

"Well now that I know you've eaten, knock your self out" he said with a smile causing Cassie to roll her eyes.

She opened the program and scanned the unread messages and her stomach tighten with unease. More new messages from Kemp.

_Ok this was creepy and now is getting a little weird_.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure that Daniel was occupied she opened the latest sent one.

_**Ok I know your busy but you could answer your mail, it's considered rude not to!**_

Then going back she went through and read them all, even the ones that she had deleted with out reading before she went away. In total there were ten, and mostly talked about his day's activities, things he liked and disliked and places that he would like to take her.

_What is with this guy? I said I wasn't interested!!!.... god I don't need this right now!! _

Glancing at Daniel again to make sure he was still busy she quickly typed a short message back to Kemp politely telling him that she was not interested and sent it before getting back to what she was supposed to be doing.

End of Chapter 27


	28. Some Well Needed Retail Therapy

Chapter 28

**SOME WELL NEEDED Retail Therapy**

The week continued in much the same manner as Cassie's first day back at the SGC. She buried herself in her work, was forced to go to lunch with the gang, and then again buried herself back in her work. As long as she stayed busy she was ok.

She hated going home to a large empty house (save the cat who was far to busy to want to sit with Cassie) at the end of the day so she worked back as late as possible before practically been thrown out by Daniel or Sam.

It was now Friday and the headache she had had since the beginning of the week, that had slowly been getting worse, was at an all time high. Cassie's day had been quite busy with the translation and she had just finished deleting yet more Kemp emails, a problem that she was now having trouble ignoring and probably should have told someone about, but she really didn't want to be drawing any more attention to herself than was absolutely necessary. Deciding to give Kemp one last chance before going to Jack about it she sent one more back to him.

_**Stop emailing me! I'M NOT INTERESTED!!! End of story! **_

She squinted at the bright lights overhead and winced at the pain behind her eyes.

_I need painkillers. _

She went to rummage in Daniel's top draw, knowing he usually had a stash in there, and sifting though it, found a bottle of Paracetamol.

_Ahh!!!! Bingo_

She grabbed her water bottle and was just about to take the pills when Sam walked around the corner. Cassie quickly swallowed the pills before Sam could question what she was doing and said "Hey"

"Hi, what are you taking?" she said with concern.

"Just some paracetamol." She said pointing at her head. "Headache! too much computer screen. What are you doing down here?"

"Nothing really." Sam said eyeing Cassie up.

_Oh please!_

"Sam you are a horrible liar." Cassie said bluntly. "What's up?" she questioned turning back to her computer.

Sam sighed. "Cassie, if there was something wrong you would tell me right?"

Cassie paused not knowing how to answer without lying herself. "If it was something that you could help with, of course I would. Why?"

Sam grabbed the other chair in the room and pulled it up to the bench next to Cassie and sat down leaning her elbows on the counter top. "I get the feeling that there has been something going on with you for quite some time and I can't help but get the feeling that you are deliberately trying to keep it from me… "

_Oh Crap!_

"… Is it something to do with the Nirrti stuff? You know the moving things with your mind stuff?"

_Phewwwwww! That was close!_

"No." she said turning back to look at Sam. "Well, now that I think about it that has been a little more active than usual, but I'm fine. Just busy."

Sam looked her up and down and considered her answer. Cassie knew that her current appearance was not helping her previous statement. Even she knew she was looking particularly pale and gaunt. She had not been getting much sleep this past week and had been running herself into the ground.

"I don't believe you" Sam said straightening up. She then sighed in defeat and said "but there is not much I can do really is there?" to which Cassie shook her head.

"Ok I'll leave you alone on one condition… Tomorrow instead of Chess we are going to the Mall. It is after all the 1st of December. I think some good old Christmas retail therapy will do us both the world of good not to mention your birthday is in like two and a half weeks." Cassie made a face in disgust at the mention of her birthday, she didn't really have much luck with them and considering the last few weeks that was one thing she really wanted to avoid, but quickly changed her expression before Sam could catch on. But she was surprised that Christmas had crept around again so quickly, that was a holiday that she really liked.

_Goodness me, Is that really the date already? _

Giving in Cassie nodded and said "Sure, why not"

_At least it will get me out of the house. I don't think I can use work as an excuse for Saturday anyway, Daniel would kill me._

"I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet." She finished.

Sam brightened immediately and smiled. "Great! I'll pick you up at about 10am?"

"Sounds good, I'll be ready." Cassie replied also feeling a little lighter than she had been feeling.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

True to her word Sam was there just before ten the next day and was eager to get to the mall right away, apparently she had seen a fabulous dress in a catalogue that she thought might be suitable for the SGC Christmas party and was keen to try it on. So half an hour later Cassie found herself in a department store change room waiting to see said dress on Sam.

Sam came out of the dressing room wearing an olive green dress that came down to just past her knees. It had spaghetti straps and some light beading around the waist.

"Wow, looks great! The colour is perfect for you!" Cassie complemented Sam as she spun around for her.

"You think? Not too much?" Sam asked.

"It's defiantly not too much. I love it." Cassie encouraged. "We can get you a great pair of heels and you'll knock 'em dead."

"We should look for something for you while we're here too." Sam said slipping back behind the curtain to change.

"No, I think I'll just wear something I already have." Cassie said not really wanting to get in to the fact that she had no intention of going.

"Why? You haven't bought anything new in ages. Besides don't you want something new to wear on your birthday?" Sam said from behind the curtain.

_There's that B word again! Avoid an argument_

"Well if we see anything nice… maybe I'll try it on." She compromised.

Sam came back around the curtain with a huge smile on her face.

_Well at least on of us is going to enjoy this shopping trip._

"Great lets have another look through the racks." Sam beamed grabbing Cassie's hand and dragging her out of the change room.

Fortunately, although there were some lovely dresses in the shop there was nothing that would be deemed suitable by the guys for Cassie to wear, _what would the boys think of the black halter neck number in the back of my wardrobe?!? _So the girls gave up and went in search of shoes for Sam.

Time flew and soon they were just finishing a quick lunch before starting again. Sam had found some shoes and Cassie had even given in and let Sam buy her a killer pair of heels that she would have to hide from Jack and Daniel.

_They'd have a coronary if they saw me in those._

They were now standing in a bookshop and Sam was checking out the astronomy section. Cassie herself was eyeing up the romance novels and was picking out a few titles when her phone rang. Checking the caller id she frowned not recognising the number. Sam came over and looked over her shoulder and shrugged also not knowing it. Deciding to answering it she flipped open the phone and answered.

"Hello?" she said

"Good after noon, is that Cassandra Frasier?" a male voice said.

"Yes, can I ask whose calling?" she said frowning at Sam who was asking who it was.

"This is Graham Poland at Cheyenne General Hospital. I was given your name and number as a contact for a patient that has been brought in." he said.

"Patient? Oh my God, who?" Cassie asked in alarm.

_I don't know anyone who would be taken to a regular hospital and not the SGC!_

"A Mrs May Davis was brought in this afternoon after taking a tumble in her hotel bathroom." The doctor replied.

_MAY!?! What is she doing here? Why would she give me as her contact?_

"…hello? Miss Frasier, are you still there?" the man asked. Realising that she had zoned out for a second Cassie quickly spoke up.

"Yes, sorry I'm still here." She said trying to get her panic under control and failing miserably.

"Do you know Mrs Davis?" the doctor inquired not sounding convinced.

"Umm Yes I do." Cassie said trying to gather her thoughts. "Is she alright?" she asked. Already signalling Sam to get what ever she wanted because they were leaving.

_Oh my god, I need to get down there!_

"She took a rather nasty bump to the head that needed a few stitches but the doctor doesn't see there being any further complications."

"Oh god, um, I'm on my way." Cassie finished not really taking in what the man was saying and hung up the phone. She spun to Sam in a panic. "We need to go!" she said with out explanation and spun around heading for the door.

"Go? Go where? Who was that on the phone?" Sam asked really confused.

"Cheyenne General Hospital, we need to go now!" Cassie replied, not even turning around, and headed out the shop and towards where they had parked the car.

"Cheyenne General? As in the hospital? Who's in the hospital?" Sam asked suddenly panicked.

"May Davis." She replied not really thinking about what she was saying and to whom.

"May Davis? Who's May Davis?" Sam said catching up to Cassie.

_Bugger!_

They had reached the car in record time and Cassie made her way over to the passenger side and was waiting for Sam to unlock the car.

"Um…Major Davis's Grandmother…" to this she got a very confused look from Sam.

"Why would Major Davis's grandmother be…."

"Look Sam I will explain everything but not right now. I need to get to the hospital. Please!" Cassie interrupted.

Sam stood there a little stunned at Cassie's sudden panic.

"Sam…PLEASE!" Cassie all but screeched.

"Ok! Ok! But once we get there you are going to have some explaining to do." Sam said sternly

"Yes, Yes, Fine! Thank you!" rushed Cassie as Sam finally unlocked the car and they got in.

End of Chapter 28

**_… the title of the hospital was totally made up!_**

**_Hi everyone, sorry for the delay, I had some bandwidth issues and couldn't post until the beginning of the month_**

**_Ta Mya_**


	29. Two Down, Two To Go!

Chapter 29

**TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO**

Cassandra was out of the car before it fully came to a stop and was racing for the door with Sam hot on her heels. Sam had kept her word and not asked questions as to why Major Davis' Grandmother would be asking for Cassie and not her Grandson, for which Cassie was eternally thankful. She was stressed out enough. Now all she had to do was find May.

_Info Desk!_

Locating the reception desk just off to the side of the ER Cassie made a b-line for it and asked the receptionist where she could find May.

"It looks like she has been transferred to the ward, Level 3 Ward 34 Room 6." The lady replied.

"Thanks" Sam answered for Cassie as she was already half way to the elevator.

Catching up Sam barely made it into to the elevator car before the doors began to close. Cassie could feel Sam's eyes on her as she bounced restlessly on the balls of her feet waiting for the elevator to reach the third floor. Finally the doors opened and Cassie was out in a flash and moving down the corridor checking signs as she went.

Finally she found Room 6 and went through the open door into a room with five beds all with patients in them. She scanned the beds looking for May and found her in the last bed watching the TV.

_Why isn't she in a private room?_

Looking over her appearance she noticed a large cut that had been stitched and there was a large bruise starting to form on the side of her face.

"May! Oh my god! What happened? What are you doing here?" she asked rushing to her bedside.

"Oh Cassie, dear, thank you so much for coming. I'm so sorry to have to trouble you like this. And I've told you to call me Nana" May said as she focused on Cassie.

"Don't be silly it's no trouble at all." Cassie replied taking May's hand in hers. "What happened?" she asked again, critiquing the old woman's injuries up close.

"Oh it's silly really, I slipped in the bathroom at the hotel and knocked myself out on the bathtub's edge." She replied trying to brush it off as a look of horror came over Cassie's face who was again surveying the room May was in.

_Knocked herself out!?! Shouldn't she be being more closely monitored?_

"What were you doing in a hotel room here in the first place?" Cassie asked.

"Why I was here to see you of course!" May stated promptly then softened her tone "I was so worried about you and how things got so muddled up over the holiday weekend. I could shoot my daughter-in-law right about now for all the trouble she has caused between you and Paul"

Up until this point Cassie had forgotten that Sam was with her but the mention of Paul had Sam alerting them to her presence.

"Uh… What weekend? You were in New York with Nelson weren't you? Why would there be _trouble_ between you and Major Davis, and what the hell does it have to do with his mother and grandmother?" Sam said her voice rising with each question.

_Bugger!_

Cassie winced before looking back up at May who had an apologetic look on her face realising that she had let the preverbal cat out the bag. Luckily it was then that a Doctor entered the room to check on May.

"Ah, Mrs Davis! We managed to contact someone for you alright then? How's your head feeling?" he asked not actually looking at her but her chart instead. May gave the doctor a nasty look and sniffed in response.

Taking that as her answer he turned to Cassie and looked her up and down before asking "Are you a family member?"

"Yes! Yes she is! She's my Granddaughter!" May proclaimed as if the doctor was accusing her of something.

The look on Sam's face was priceless.

"Ah, could I have a word with you outside please?" The Doctor said turning his back on May.

_I don't like this guy one bit…_

"Umm… sure" Cassie replied and turning to Sam she added "I'll be right back and I promise I'll explain everything as soon as all this is sorted." Then she moved to follow the doctor out the room but Sam followed her.

"I'm staying with you, besides what ever else has been happening, I don't much like this Doctor, and did you see the look he gave you?" She whispered to which Cassie only nodded in response focusing all her current energy on dealing with said doctor.

Once outside she faced him crossing her arms waiting for him to start. "We are just going to wait a little while to see if she shows any signs of further trauma, no point wasting precious resources on a silly cut." He said condescendingly towards Cassie.

_What the hell?....._

Sam's eyes widened in anger at the flippant attitude of the doctor but Cassie beat her to what ever she was about to say.

"Excuse me! A silly little cut? _SHE KNOCKED HERSELF OUT!_ She lost consciousness! Who knows how long she was on that bathroom floor before she came too" She exclaimed angrily "why is she not in a private room being monitored more closely? She is 94 years old for crying out loud!" she could not believe the attitude of this doctor.

While she raged at the doctor, Sam had stepped back and was on her mobile phone talking to someone.

Backing away from Cassie's tirade the doctor focused on Sam and said "No mobile phone use on the Ward."

"Go to hell!" Cassie bit out between clenched teeth.

"You are upset about your Grandmother so I shall not take that personally, I will leave you to calm down." He said patronisingly and walked away.

_JERK! _

Calming down as much as she could she turned to face Sam who was getting off the phone. "Sam, I know it's a lot to ask but is there any chance…"

"Already done, there is a transport on its way to pick her up and take her to the SGC. We can have her properly checked out and observed there" She said.

"Thank you!" Cassie replied with relief.

"You can get her settled in there and then we are going to have a chat about what has been going on, and this time you _**will **_tell me the truth." Sam said sternly.

Cassie only nodded and went back into the room to get May ready to leave.

"May..." Cassie started as she reached the bed.

"Nana" May interrupted.

"Nana… this is Sam Carter, she is for all intents and purposes my Aunt..." Cassie replied giving Sam a small smile at the title. "She has arranged to get you transferred to the Base where Paul and I work. We are going to get you properly checked out and monitored to make sure you are okay."

"Nice to meet you Sam but there really is no need for that." May replied trying to brush it off.

"No, that idiot of a doctor couldn't sew a wound if his life depended on it, you need to be checked out properly." Cassie said firmly. "Come on lets get you down stairs." She said helping May up off the bed, into her coat and they left.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Cassie had delivered May to the SGC infirmary and had been told by the doctor that they would need an hour or two to attend to the wound and conduct the proper tests. Then she had practically been thrown out and told to eat something and rest. Sam had disappeared as soon as they had reached the infirmary saying that she had to deal with something and would meet her in the Mess. So this was where she now was, sitting at a table with her head resting in her arms waiting for the inevitable.

She heard two people enter the room but didn't have the energy to look up and see who it was. She was pretty sure one of them was Sam anyway. The two people sat down at the table without a word and seemed to wait.

Sighing, Cassie lifted her head off her arms to find Sam staring at her and… Daniel.

_Daniel? Not who I expected…_

Not really knowing what to say Cassie settled for a whispered "Hi"

"Hi" said Daniel before continuing "Sam told me what happened today, are you okay?"

_Ha! Am I okay? Not a clue!_

"I have no idea how I feel at the moment… certainly wasn't expecting this." she said, not for the first time in the last week or so feeling completely exhausted. Taking in Cassie's appearance Sam reached out and grabbed hold of Cassie's hand and squeezed it in comfort.

"Daniel told me what has been going on." Sam said. Cassie went wide eyed and shifted her gaze to Daniel with a look of betrayal plastered to her face.

_He WHAT!_

Seeing the look Sam jumped back in quickly "Wait a sec Cassie, to be fair I pretty much bullied it out of him."

To which Daniel whispered a small, uncomfortable "Sorry" in Cassie's direction. She sighed heavily deflating a little more.

"It's okay Daniel. It was bound to come out eventually. To tell you the truth I don't think I was going to last much longer myself."

She rubbed her face to try and wake herself up a little. "So…"

_Now what?_

"Why didn't you tell me? …I could kill him" Sam said, the last part almost under her breath but Cassie caught it nether the less.

Cassie paused a moment gathering her thoughts "Well to begin with it wasn't exactly something that I could define as anything. It was all so tentative at the beginning. I had no idea how to explain it to you without you all freaking out. Let's face it you guys haven't reacted well to my boyfriends in the past." She said knowing by the expression on both Sam and Daniel's faces that they knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Let alone me dating someone a little older than me _and_ him being in the Air Force. Going by your earlier response I wasn't wrong" She said more to her self than Sam.

The reference to age seemed to spike Sam's earlier thoughts once again. "Did he, in any way, force you…" she didn't get the rest of her sentence out because Cassie had forcefully pushed herself away from the table and stood up.

_He would never…._

"NO!" she shouted. Both Sam and Daniel were taken back by her outburst and sat there stunned. Calming down Cassie continued "He never forced me to do anything, quite the opposite in fact." She pulled her seat back and sat down again.

"Sorry about that" she whispered a little embarrassed at her out burst.

"It's okay. But I had to ask…" Sam trailed off seeming to be picking her next words very carefully. She was watching Cassie very carefully and thinking about her demeanour over the past week or so, apart from when Janet had died, she had never seen her so cut up before. Thinking back to the break ups Cassie had had in the past none measured up to how broken Cassie seemed to be now, not even Dominic and that one had been bad.

It then dawned on Sam what was so obvious she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it weeks ago.

"Do you love him?" She asked.

Cassie who, had been staring at her hands, shot up to look at Sam.

_I… _

A million things were spinning around in her head. Everything that had taken place from that first day when she had first bumped in to Paul, to when he left her standing in that bedroom a week ago. But in front of that was the one burning question that she had refused to ask her self because she didn't think she could survive the answer.

_Yes_

Her eyes welled up with tears and she nodded her head not able to speak. A sob escaped her and Sam was out of her chair and embracing her with in a second. Daniel also got up but was feeling a little spare now that Sam was in the know. He settled for placing a warm hand on Cassie's back and gently rubbing small circles on it.

They sat there in silence allowing Cassie to get control of her self once again before continuing.

Daniel was the first to break the silence. "So why exactly is Paul's Grandmother here?"

_Goodness, I forgot all about her_

"Good question, I have yet to get to the bottom of that. Once the Doctor will let me back into the infirmary I'll find out." Cassie said wiping the rest of her tears away. At the same time the mention of Paul's name sparked another thought.

_What about Paul? He needs to be told_

"Uh, Daniel, could you do me a huge favour? I don't think that Pa… _he_ has been told about his Grandmother. Could you ring him please? The family is probably worried sick. I got the impression from what she said in the car on the way over here that she didn't announce her little trip down here." Cassie said.

"Oh um ok… You sure you don't want to…." Daniel asked hesitantly

"Uh, No. I can't… not right now. Not until I know why May is here." Cassie interrupted.

"Okay, I'll go do that now." he said, then as an after thought added "I still think that everything is going to be ok. You just have to give him time." Then he disappeared out the door not seeing the dirty look that Sam threw at his back.

Sam and Cassie stared at the spot that he had been standing in.

Cassie's mind reeled with all sorts of things as she played over the events of the day and suddenly asked Sam "How did you get clearance to bring May here?"

"I told Jack that Mrs Davis had called the Base and that they had patched her through to me as he wasn't available. I told him that she was trying to get hold of Major Davis but couldn't so she tried the one place that she knew he worked. But I think that we need to tell him the truth." Sam said.

_Tell Jack!?!_

"NO! Please don't tell Jack, there really isn't anything he can do and he'll just get all protective and lose his cool and do something that he'll regret and none of us need to have to deal with that…" Cassie blurted out.

Sam eyed up Cassie for a moment before replying "Ok, for the time being I'll leave it." But Cassie could tell that Sam was not comfortable with it.

"Thanks" Cassie said with a weak smile.

_Why do I get the feeling that this conversation is not over?_

End of Chapter 29

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Hello faithful readers! Here is Chapter 29. Initially I had Paul in this chapter, he was going to appear during Cassie's explosion at the doctor, but I just couldn't get it to work so he'll be back next chapter. _**I Promise!!!!**_

Hope you enjoyed!

Mya


	30. Meddling May

Chapter 30

**MEDDLING MAY**

Cassie had returned to the infirmary soon after Daniel had left. She had found May lying in bed with her eyes closed but Cassie knew she wasn't asleep. She had seen May like this once before.

_That night in the living room, I knew she wasn't really asleep_

"Hey, what did the Doctor say?" Cassie said with a smile as she approached and took the empty seat by the bed.

"Hello, Dear. He says that I'm going to be fine. You have quite the facility here." She said then with a slightly cheeky smile she asked "what exactly is it all for?"

Giving May a suspicious look she asked "What has P…Paul told you it is all for?"

"Deep Space Telemetry. Not that I believe him for one moment." She stated.

Cassie couldn't help but smile at the look on May's face.

"Then that is exactly what we do here." She said knowing that May still didn't believe that "However that doesn't explain why _**you**_ are here." She added waiting for answer.

"Why, I'm here because _**you brought me**__**here**_." May said.

_Oh Touché_

"You know that's not what I meant." Cassie replied.

May sighed. "I wanted to make sure that you were alright. I was worried about you. You were so upset when you left and you weren't making any kind of sense. Paul was beside himself when I told him you had gone. It has been a very long time since I have seen him like that."

Cassie frowned at that last comment.

_So!?!… he was the one who caused it….. Oh come off it Cassie that is such a childish thing to think._

"He really didn't mean it, you know." May continued

"Ha! Funny way of showing it" Cassie couldn't help saying and regretted it as soon as it was out. "I didn't mean that" she whispered trying to take it back.

"Yes, you did. And you have every right to think it. That is something that Paul is going to have to live with and try and fix." May said agreeing with Cassie's first statement.

"He just needs the right… shall we say motivation to do just that." May said cryptically to which Cassie frowned not getting her meaning.

"I don't understand" she said

"Don't you worry about it dear, you don't need to." May reassured her closing her eyes again. Apparently the conversation was over.

As she watched May slip into a real slumber her own eyes started to grow heavy and she felt herself being pulled in to sleep.

* * *

Before Cassie could wake her self enough to open her eyes she became aware of someone looming over her. She felt a blanket been placed over her and then felt a hand gently run down the side of her face in a caress. Her head turned into the caress involuntarily and she sighed as she became fully awake and opened her eyes to focus on the last person she thought she would see.

_Paul _

She froze not knowing what to do and just stared at him. He too seemed a little startled at been caught so close to her. Eyeing him up she couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction at the sight he presented, he looked dreadful.

_Glad to know I'm not the only one feeling like crap!_

His face seemed drawn, pale and he had not shaved in what looked like a day or two. He was also in very casual clothing for him making him look almost scruffy.

Realising that she had stopped breathing and knowing that she needed to start doing so again, she gasped in a breath and then looked around her trying to focus on what was going on and how she had come to be in this situation. Focusing on the bed just in front of her she saw May sleeping peacefully.

_That's right, you are keeping watch over May … _

_concentrate Frasier…._

_God I've missed him… No! Stop it!_

Straightening up in her chair and shaking off her thoughts she asked "Uh… what's… the time?" not really knowing what else to say and doing her very best not to look directly at the still stunned Major in front of her.

Snapping out of his trance he looked down at his watch "Uh, it's just after three in the morning." He said taking a step back to give her some room.

"Wow, I had no idea it was so late." She said standing up and wrapping the blanket around her as if she was cold, but really hoping it would give her some sort of protection.

"Yeah the nurse said that you have been here a good six hours." He agreed seemly wanting to keep the conversation going as long as possible before it would turn to more unpleasant topics.

Wanting the same Cassie asked "Daniel got in contact with you easily enough?"

"Uh, yes. Got the first flight out…" he trailed off.

_Ok that looks like the last of the pleasantries. Now what?_

"What is she doing here?" Paul asked frowning as he moved over to the other side of the bed and looked down at May.

"She was at Cheyenne General but there was an idiot of a doctor there so we had her transferred here." Cassie responded without thinking.

"No, I got that part from Daniel, I meant what was she doing_**here**_?" he stated

"Oh…um…"

_Idiot, Frasier! _

"She…uh was apparently here to see me…" She replied shrugging her shoulders from the spot that she was apparently now frozen to.

Thankfully Paul didn't ask her why that was, as there seemed to be some realisation in his expression. Even if she didn't fully understand why May had come here, _he_ did.

_Glad someone does…God I'm tired…_

"Cassie, I..." He started but trailed off.

_Not now, please…_

Deciding to save him and her from any more awkwardness and discomfort, something Cassie really didn't think she could take much more of at 3 o'clock in the morning, Cassie backed away a little and interrupted before he could think of what to say.

"Uh, the Doctor has seen to her head wound and checked her over properly. He wants to keep her for a day or two just in case, but she will be fine… tell her that I'll come by and check on her tomorrow." She finished and then turned and started making her way over to the door.

She was nearly out when Paul spoke again causing Cassie to once again freeze on the spot. "Cassie…"

She turned around and looked directly at him for the first time since she had woken up.

He paused a moment before simply saying "Thank you."

Not being able to help a small smile from crossing her lips she simply replied "anytime" before slipping out the door. As soon as she was out she made her way to the elevators so she could go home and try to get some much needed sleep.

End of Chapter 30


	31. Truth

Chapter 31

**TRUTH**

Sleep didn't come.

_Descent sleep indeed!_

Cassie had made it home relatively quickly and had headed straight for the bedroom. Not bothering to change she had thrown herself on the bed and closed her eyes. That had been three hours ago. It was now 7 am and she had had no sleep. Her brain just wouldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened and been said over the last couple of weeks.

_Stupid Brain! Why weren't you working like this 4 hours ago when I needed you?_

Deciding that she should just give up with sleep she thought she might try running.

Changing into her jogging gear she left the house and headed out for a well needed work out.

Her normal thirty minute run turned in to two hours of her walking aimlessly around the neighbourhood giving herself plenty of time to clear away the cobwebs with some fresh cold morning air and process all the new information that she had been bombarded with the past twenty four hours. So by the time she got back to her house it was just after 9 o'clock and as she neared the path that went to her front door she noticed someone sitting on her front porch.

A male someone.

_Paul…_

Cassie could fell her heartbeat suddenly speed up and her breathing becoming heavier.

_Oh Boy!_

He saw her approach and jumped to his feet as she pushed open the gate. She slowed to a stop about five feet from the steps that he had been sitting on.

"Hi" he said nervously stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. He seemed to have tidied himself up a little bit and had had a shave. This strangely enough made her feel better, more at ease.

_Much more like the Paul I know_

"Hello." She whispered still not moving. She may have been more at ease at his appearance but had no idea what else to say about him being there. This turn of events really threw her, she never would have expected him to show up like this.

…_and there goes my brain shutting down again_

"Out for a run?" he asked struggling to find the words he really wanted.

Cassie just nodded not trusting her voice.

"I… uh… was hoping that we could talk." He said more clearly, finally finding his courage.

_Uh oh _

He didn't wait for her to say anything and continued "I owe you a huge apology. What I said back at my parent's house was cruel and completely untrue." He said taking a step towards her and then, rethinking the move, stopped.

_Which part?_

Not knowing what else to say Cassie voiced her thoughts "which part?"

"All of it, but mostly the part about you not understanding…I made you a promise that I would never treat you like that and I broke it, and I hate myself for saying it to you." He said waiting for her reaction.

_Oh God…._

Her breathing had become even faster and shallow and for a moment she thought she was going to break down right there in the front yard, but was distracted by the noise of Mrs Constantine's front door opening and she could see the old lady in her peripheral vision watching the two of them.

_Nosy old bat, we don't need an audience. Thank you very much!_

"How long have you been here?" Cassie asked.

The change in subject seemed to startle Paul and he looked confused until he also saw the audience that they had. "About twenty minutes I guess." He replied focusing back on Cassie.

"Hmm…" She huffed eyeing him up and then sighing said "we better go inside."

He moved to the side giving her plenty of room to get by and then followed her as she unlocked the front door.

_Okay just breathe Cassie_

Once she was inside she continued into the living room leaving Paul to close the front door.

Looking around the room she tried to find something that she could use as a distraction so that she could give her self a well needed minute to centre her self before they continued, eyeing up the Answering machine, she went over to it and pressed play to check for messages. Luckily there was a message from Nelson checking up on her, not that she had a clue what he was saying, she was far more focused on the person standing in her living room. She closed her eyes pretending to listen to the message and concentrated on her breathing.

Once she was satisfied that she was ok she turned back to Paul who was watching her intensely.

_Just relax Cassie_

"Is May alright?" Cassie asked wanting to break the silence. Not trusting her ability to remain standing, she moved over to the couch and took a seat before she fell down.

"She's fine…" he replied before moving further into the room but not sitting down. He started pacing in front of the coffee table, seeming to hesitate before carrying on.

"I've really screwed things up." He stated.

Cassie's heart clenched a little but she remained silent not trusting her voice at the moment.

"I'm So Sorry." He said stopping his pacing to look at her. Cassie closed her eyes to stop the tears that she knew were coming and let out a slow shaky breath.

_Don't cry don't cry don't cry_

He continued "I was… scared and let feelings from the past rule me and…" he paused not really knowing what else to say. This was her chance, he brought up the past and if nothing else she needed to know what that past was.

"Can you tell me what happened? In the past, I mean." Cassie whispered still not trusting her voice.

Paul made eye contact with Cassie as he contemplated what to say.

"Look, I don't know why you're here and what you wanted out of this but if you want to move on from this…" Cassie said regaining some of her own courage and waving her hand between them "…then you need to tell me what I did wrong that brought up all this old stuff and upset you so much"

In a flash Paul's face changed to a frown and he was instantly in front of her sitting on the coffee table. "Oh Honey, _**You**_ didn't do anything wrong! It was me, _**all me**__!"_ he said grabbing her hand.

_It's not my fault, not my fault, not my fault_

This time Cassie could not stop the tears from escaping and dipped her head to hide her face from him. Paul quickly tilted her head back up to look at him and wiped them away with his thumb.

"I'm So Sorry." he said again pain evident on his face. He paused again before taking her hands in his again and continuing.

"There was a woman, about five years ago now… her name was Victoria. We met in Washington, she was a civilian who worked with a company who had a private contract with the Pentagon at the time. We hit it off really well and dated for a year and then lived together for a year, we had a lot of the same interests and my family loved her, well most of them but I'll get back to that, and she told me she really liked them. I thought everything was great so I asked her to marry me." He stopped there and looked up at Cassie to gage her reaction.

She said nothing but her brain had suddenly kicked back in and was reeling.

He continued, taking her silence as a positive "She accepted and we started planning the wedding. All was great, I thought, until about three weeks before the wedding." He stopped again and took a couple of deep breaths. Cassie squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"She found out she was pregnant. I was ecstatic, Alana had not long announced her pregnancy with Elle and I had been thinking a lot about being the only one out of my siblings that had not settled down and had children yet… Victoria was not. Apparently she had her own ideas about her life and they didn't include children, or my family for that matter." He whispered the last part and looked down at his lap.

_Oh my god_

"She went behind my back and… had an abortion and then decided to tell me this as well as telling me that the entire relationship was part of a plan for her to further her career, she thought that she might be able to sway me to recommend her company for further Pentagon contracts. All this, she told me at a family gathering in front of everybody, making sure they knew exactly what she thought of them."

_Bitch!_

"I got played and didn't even see it coming." He mumbled more to himself and hung his head in shame.

He suddenly seemed angry and spat out "How is that? I'm supposed to be good at this type of thing. Good at reading people, It's my job for god's sake!"

Cassie didn't know what to say to that but she did know what to say about the bit before. She used her free hand to tilt his face back up to hers so that he was looking at her again and then with as much conviction as she could muster she replied.

"I would _**never**_ do that to you sweetheart."

He stared at her for a moment, he seemed to be memorising every inch of her face. She tried to smile at him reassuringly, trying to convey to him that she meant it. A look of acceptance seemed to appear on his face and his body seemed to physically relax. Then he said something that made Cassie's heart soar.

"I love you."

She gasped in a breath and her eyes glistened with fresh unshed tears at the declaration. She had no idea how to express into words what she was feeling so she did the next best thing and pushing forward, kissed him with everything she had left in her.

Pulling back for breath she locked gazes with him, smiled and whispered "I love you too."

He responded instantly and pushing off the coffee table, guided her back down onto the couch taking control of another kiss. She melted underneath him pulling him as close as she possibly could and hooked one of her legs around the backs of his.

_You're not going anywhere…_

His hand had made its way under her shirt and up her back whilst the other was around her waist. His kisses left her mouth and made their way down her neck which caused Cassie to sigh in pleasure.

Paul paused and brought his head back up to face Cassie with a worried gaze "If you want to stop all you need do is say." He said.

_What! Hell no!_

"Don't you dare even _**think**_ about stopping!" she said before pulling his face down so she could kiss him again and reached for the buttons on his shirt. He returned the kiss but then pulled away completely causing her to whimper out loud. It didn't last long though as he stood and scooped her up in his arms. Cassie squealed then hung on as Paul made to leave the room with her.

"I think that this would be best continued upstairs, don't you think?" he asked taking the first few steps upwards.

Cassie's smile broadened as she replied "Absolutely!" before pulling him in for another kiss and resuming her task of undoing his shirt buttons.

End of Chapter 31


	32. What Ever You're Thinking NO!

Chapter 32

**WHAT EVER YOU'RE THINKING…NO!!! **

Although her eyes were still closed, Cassie could feel the late afternoon sun on her face and sighed in content as she shifted in the bed. She was lying on her stomach facing the window and had to squint at the late afternoon sun streaming in through the open curtains as she opened her eyes. She felt a hand run lightly up and down her back under the sheet and turned her head to face the owner of said hand. Paul was lying on his side with his elbow propping up his head on the pillow watching her. She smiled lazily at him and said "Hi" before she turned over to face him, pulling the sheet and quilt up to stave off the cold.

Realising that she was cold he pulled her to him and settled on his back with her snuggled into his side.

"Good sleep?" he asked

"The best" she exclaimed "You?"

"Hmm… same. Haven't slept like that in a while" he said. He seemed to hesitate before continuing.

"And before that....are you alright?" he asked kissing the top of her head.

_Um… I… Oh I didn't think this conversation would come up this soon_.

"Oh…umm… I'm alright." she said a little nervously, snuggling even further into his embrace so that she wouldn't have to look at him. The last time she had had this conversation with a guy it hadn't gone so well.

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

_Change the subject, change the subject._

Instead of answering Cassie shifted so that she was hovering over him and kissed him slowly. He reciprocated immediately and encircled her in his arms above him. She pulled only far enough away this time to gain eye contact and whispered over his lips.

"I love you"

One of his hands came up to brush her hair away from her face and over her shoulder so that he could stroke her face "I love you too" he said before reaching up, kissing her again and flipping them both over so that she was under him.

Cassie let out a squeal at the sudden movement and giggled as Paul pulled away again and looked at her.

"I'm never letting you out of my sight again." He said.

"Really?" she said with a raising her eyebrows.

"Really!" He said, his gaze absorbing every inch of her face.

"That would mean that we would have to stay in the same room for the rest of our lives" she said matter of factually.

"I can live with that." he said nodding.

"And what makes you think that you can make me stay?" she replied with a teasing smile and a twinkle in her eye.

He smiled at her and replied "oh I think I could come up with something" before he started trailing kisses down her neck to her collarbone. Cassie's arms automatically snaked around Paul's neck hugging him close to her and she sighed in pleasure before he claimed her lips once more. All earlier thoughts forgotten.

After she regained her breath she glanced at the bedside clock and her suspicions of it being late afternoon were confirmed by the numbers 16:00 flashing back at her. She groaned knowing that they were going to have to get up.

"We have left poor May on her own all day, we really should head back to the Base to check on her." she said frowning at her own statement. As if on queue the bedside phone started ringing and Cassie rolled her eyes knowing before even looking at the caller ID who it would be.

Resigning to the fact that she was probably right and that the ringing phone was about to ruin their current activities Paul nodded "Yep we probably should. I'm going to grab a quick shower while you deal with that" he said moving and pointing at the offending gadget.

"Kay" she said grabbing the phone "I'll put the kettle on." She said.

"Great idea" he said kissing her quickly and getting out of the bed and heading for the en suite.

Cassie couldn't keep the smile off her face as she pressed talk on the phone and watched him make his way into the bathroom.

"Hello" she said jamming the phone between her ear and her shoulder and fishing around on the floor for her dressing gown.

"Hey, it's me" came Daniel's voice on the other end. "You took forever to answer, were you still in bed?"

"Yep!" she replied leaving it at that.

"You slept the whole day away?" he said in surprise knowing that she hadn't been sleeping well.

"No, not the _whole_ day" she said before she realised what she was saying.

_Good one Cassie! Now he's going to want to know what you did!_

She winced and waited for the dreaded questions to start and desperately tried to think up some plausible lies, she may have been willing to discuss other aspects of her relationship with Paul with him, but there was no way she was about to tell him what she had gotten up to earlier.

_Especially with how I can't even talk to Paul about it at the moment let alone Daniel._

There are just some things that you _don't_ discuss with the male members of your family. Thinking quickly she added "I'll have you know that I went for a well needed walk this morning!"

_Not a lie!_

She had located her dressing gown and tied the sash as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She filled the kettle and put it on to boil.

"I'm not trying to nag I just wanted to check if you were alright." Daniel said in a soothing manner "I checked in at the infirmary when I got here this afternoon and they said that Paul had been in and I just wanted to check that you were alright. Did you run into him?"

Cassie winced at the question not knowing weather she really wanted to discuss this over the phone.

Deciding to go with the short version of the truth she replied "Yeah, he arrived just after three in the morning I think. Once he got there I left and came home. Why are you there on a Sunday anyway?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Never mind that! What happened" he said undeterred.

_Damn_

Cassie sighed in frustration.

"Look I'm going to get myself sorted here and then head in to check on May. I'll stop by the lab and fill you in." she said sighing in frustration.

"Oh okay then… umm…. I'll see you when you get here then." He said a little unsure. She knew that he didn't believe that that was all there was to it but she didn't offer any more information.

"Cool, I'll see you soon. Bye" she said and hung up before he could finish saying bye himself.

While she waited for Paul to reappear she busied herself in the kitchen, absently making coffee and feeding Miss Mabel while her mind wondered back to earlier.

She knew that the topic of conversation from earlier was going to come up again but she really didn't want to have to deal with it at moment. Up until now Cassie hadn't given intimacy much thought, she was so caught up with everything else going on that it had been the last thing on her mind.

_I can't go though last time again …. Damn you Domenic. I'm finally getting somewhere and it's now __**me**__ that is stalling. You need to get over it Frasier. _

She was so caught up in her musings she didn't hear Paul come into the room.

"Who was on the phone?" he asked as he came up behind Cassie and encircled her in his arms startling her a little. Recovering she relaxed in his arms and smiled.

"Daniel." She said simply then wanting to keep things as light as possible until she could get up the nerve to confront her fears she added with a sly smile "I hate to break it to you but _you_ let me out of your sight."

He paused in mock thought before replying.

"Hmm… I may need to rethink that." He said picking up the coffee that had just been poured and taking a mouthful. After swallowing he asked "So what's the plan now?"

_Bugger! too soon!_

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked trying to stall, turning around in his embrace and giving him a questioning look.

"With us." He asked tightening his hold on her. Cassie couldn't help leaning in and kissing him sweetly on the lips before looking at him again but she could tell that his train of thought was still in tact.

_Damn, that didn't work _

"Um...well moving forward would be good." She said wincing and waiting for the inevitable.

"Yeah well I got _that_ part but I was thinking more along the lines as to what you want to tell people at this stage." He clarified.

_Oh… ok not __**that**__ conversation… this is good._

"Oh umm well… Daniel is already in the know and has been very pro you so that shouldn't be a problem, oh and Sam knows but I wouldn't go near her until I've had a chance to speak to her… She probably isn't seeing you in the nicest of lights at the moment. She kind of got me at a rather stressful moment so I wasn't at my best." She said before he interrupted.

"Sorry" he said looking down.

"Don't start that again" she said in a no nonsense voice and tilted his head back up to look at her. He didn't say anything but accepted what she said so she continued.

"Um where was I? Oh right… and May, well this is the outcome she came here to get so she wont be a problem." _Meddlesome old woman_ "so I guess that only leaves the rest of your family." she finished cautiously.

"Actually I'm more concerned with General O'Neill at the moment especially since Colonel Carter knows. Wouldn't she have told him by now? I'm surprised I'm not already a dead man." He said looking a little worried.

"No, I made Sam swear not to tell him anything." She said

"He's going to have to find out sooner or later."

"I know, but on our terms, by us and not second hand knowledge from someone else. Let's just play it by ear for the time being. There's a lot going on in the next few weeks so I'm sure we can find an appropriate time to bring it up." She said mentally running through the next few weeks in her head.

_Birthday, SGC party, Christmas…_

Catching on to what she had said Paul suddenly brighten. "Ah yes! Somebody has a birthday coming up!" he beamed

_How the hell does he know that…._

As if hearing her thoughts he added "I have unrestricted access to your personal life Sweetheart, of course I know when your birthday is!"

_Damn it! _

"No!!! What ever it is that you're thinking…. No!" she said sternly.

"But it's your 21st, that's huge" he said.

"Exactly! I don't have a very good track record with birthdays let alone a milestone one. Did you read about what happened when I turned sixteen in that little file of yours?" she exclaimed

"Yes, you blacked out the entire neighbourhood block but that's not going to happen again."

"Well I'm not chancing it! End of story!" she said with a finality that Paul thought best not to challenge at the moment so he nodded and made a mental note to ask Daniel about it later.

"Now, I'm going to have a quick shower so that we can go and see May." Cassie said changing the subject and giving him another quick kiss before escaping his arms and heading upstairs.

_Ok not really where I wanted to go with this conversation but better than the alternative I guess... Oh stop it, he stayed, he's not going anywhere so forget about it and just enjoy it._

End of Chapter 32.


	33. There Will Be No Buses

Chapter 33

**THERE WILL BE NO BUSES**

After her little pep talk to herself earlier she had been much more upbeat, she had decided that she was just been ridiculous. She wasn't used to this relationship running smoothly and her mind was just trying to create conflict where there was none.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at herself for being so stupid.

_Time to just get on with it, you've got bigger problems… namely Sam_

Cassie watched the lights indicate that they had reached the sublevel for the infirmary and the doors slide open to reveal the rounded corridor maze that made up the Base.

Stepping out with Paul following close behind her, she thanked the Airman looking after the elevator and turned left towards the infirmary. The Base as usually was I hub of activity, several teams were coming and going, but when they reached the infirmary it was virtually empty with only a couple of beds being occupied. May was not in one of them.

After seeing their arrival the doctor on duty approached Cassie and Paul. "Good afternoon Major, Cassandra, we had to move Mrs Davis to one of the VIP suites as we had a team come in with injuries. We redid her tests this morning and she's fine, she'll just need to get her head wound checked in about a fortnight but she can have her local physician do that back home. You can take her home when ever you're ready Major."

"Thanks Doctor, do you know what room?" Paul asked shaking the man's hand.

"Room 2, I think." The Doctor replied and then returned to his duties.

Paul motioned Cassie to lead the way and they made their way through a few corridors to the VIP suites and approached the door that was being guarded. Cassie couldn't help but roll her eyes.

_Like a 94 year old woman poses a security threat!_

The Airman stepped forward and opened the door for them and signalled for them to enter. Cassie just shook her head in disbelief as she entered the room.

_Can you say "Over kill!"_

May was propped up on the bed reading a magazine that someone had given her but as she saw Cassie enter she smiled lightly, this smile soon changed to a broad grin as she saw Paul enter behind Cassie.

"Now _that_ is much better!" she exclaimed.

Paul closed the door behind him and then, smiling back at May, stepped closer to Cassie before putting his arm around her waist. They had agreed that whilst around the SGC they would keep an appropriate distance, something they both had struggled with since entering the Base 20 minutes ago, and Cassie visibly relaxed against him.

"Hey Nana, how are you feeling?" Paul asked as they moved closer to the bed and Cassie left his embrace to sit on the bed next to May.

"Oh, I'm much better now" she said almost tearing up as she looked between Paul and Cassie then taking Cassie's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Cassie returned the gesture and smiled knowingly at May "Now how did I know you were going to say that."

May just smiled shyly and then focused on Paul "They tell me that I can go home so now that I've sorted this mess out I can catch the bus in the morning from the terminal." She said signalling between Paul and Cassie. Paul raised his eyebrows at his Grandmother and opened his mouth to say something but Cassie beat him to it.

_A bus!?!_

"You'll do no such thing! We're not just going to ship you back home on a bus! You just sustained a head injury!" She said horrified then looked to Paul for support. She had a feeling that May was going to fight this and she wasn't mistaken.

"Oh don't be silly, I got myself down here, I can get myself back." May bristled.

"Nana, Mum and Dad are driving down tomorrow lunch time and will take you back the next morning." Paul told her.

"There's no need for that…"

"Nana! They're coming, end of story… now if you'll excuse me for a moment I need to get them booked into the motel for the night." He said pulling his mobile out of his pocket.

This piped Cassie's interest as it was the first she had heard of it. "When did you organise that?" she asked before he could leave.

"When you were upstairs." He said before turning around and heading for the door.

_Hang on a minute… a motel?? That's silly!_

"But why are you booking them into the motel?"

Paul looked at her like she had grown a second head "Where else are they going to stay? They can't exactly stay on the Base, it's a miracle that you got Nana in here."

_Yeah I know that!_

"But why aren't they staying with us?" Cassie asked.

Paul just stared at Cassie with a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face and May was giving Cassie a rather strange look.

"What?" Cassie said looking between Paul and May not understanding why her statement was so ridiculous. "We can take May home with us tonight and that way your Mum and Dad can come straight to the house rather than to the Base. Then they can leave when ever they want on Tuesday because they won't have to worry about checkout times, and Nana, you won't have to stay in this room all on your own for another day." She explained getting a little unnerved by the looks she was getting.

_What's the big deal!_

Paul looked at his Grandmother and May shrugged her shoulders at the silent question he asked.

"Cassie, why on earth would you want my mother to come and stay with you?" Paul asked not believing the conversation that they were having.

Cassie looked perplexed at the question. "Because she your Mother, you can't put your mother in a highway motel! Especially one owned by Ruth!"

"But… why would you want to do that after…" Paul asked now completely bewildered.

"What I think Paul is trying to say is why you would want to have Mary in your house after she treated you so horribly." May asked gently taking over form Paul.

"I don't understand" Cassie said in honesty "She's your family, why wouldn't I want her to stay with us?"

Paul walked up to Cassie and knelt down next to her so he could look her in the eyes. "She was horrible to you."

"No, she expressed her concern at our relationship." Cassie corrected.

"In front of you, humiliating you and causing us to…" he said but Cassie cut him off my placing her finger against his lips.

"I have no animosity towards your mother about what happened." She said softly.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because she's family and _our_ argument was not her fault, it had to happen eventually, it's over now and we're moving on. I have that huge house with three bedrooms I don't use so why not?" she said shrugging. Paul sat back on his feet completely floored and just stared at her. May too looked completely taken back.

Then he leaned forward and whispered "You're incredible, you know that?" before he kissed her forehead and sat back again.

Cassie's face beamed with a cheeky smile and said "I do try!"

End of Chapter 33


	34. All Grown Up

Chapter 34

**ALL GROWN UP  
**

After a little more coaxing Cassie got Paul to ring his parents with the change in plans leaving her and May alone for a little while.

"So, everything sorted out?" May asked as soon as Paul was out the door.

"Yeah… for the most part… he told me what happened before… with Victoria." At the mention of the name May sneered.

"Horrible, horrible woman! Never liked her, and Paul was crushed after she wreaked her wickedness on us. He has never really forgiven himself for letting her into our lives." She grumbled then brightened "No matter now though, I'm so glad that you two worked things out. Dear, you are just what he needs."

"Thanks, he is defiantly what _I_ need. Things are finally falling into place." She said hoping that they really were.

Soon after Paul returned and Cassie thought it best that she leave them to catch up. She had to find Daniel before he came to find her anyway. She had been on the Base nearly 2 hours and still had not stopped by the lab. The infirmary was on the same level as the Gate so she headed back to the elevator and went up one level to where the lab was located. When she got there Daniel and Sam were sitting at the lab table with coffee in hand talking quietly.

_Good. Two birds. One stone._

They had not noticed her straight away so she walked up to the bench and pulled up another stool.

"_I_ have an excuse to be here but I _know_ that both of you aren't supposed to be here on a Sunday!" she said plainly as she took her seat. Both Daniel and Sam seemed a little taken back by her sudden appearance, giving away the fact that they had been talking about her.

_Busted!_

Daniel was the first to recover from his shock and offered her a cup of coffee which she accepted.

"So you guys were talking about me, huh!" She said cheerfully.

"No we were..." Sam started before looking to Daniel for help.

"We… were talking about…" he tried but failed. Cassie just rolled her eyes at the both of them.

"Please you guys are terrible liars. So Sam why are you here on a Sunday?" Cassie asked.

"I…" she started before giving in and finished "I was checking up on you. Daniel told me that you ran in to Major Davis early this morning and I wanted make sure that you were ok."

"Why is it that I have NO secrets" Cassie exclaimed throwing Daniel a dirty look.

"We're just worried about you is all. I might not like him very much at the moment but Major Davis is an integral part of the SGC and you are going to run into him from time to time and may even have to work with him closely like before, we just want you to know that we are here for you and that we support you." Sam said.

Cassie looked between Sam and Daniel several times considering how to respond to Sam's little speech.

_I am REALLY tempted to string them along for a laugh…but that might result in injury to Paul given the look on Sam's face._

"I love you guys so much, you know that? But that won't be necessary." She said and waited to see the reaction.

"What do you mean, I don't understand" Daniel asked cautiously.

"Lets just you were right…as usual. How do you do that?" she said and watched again. All she got was a blank look from Sam but Daniel suddenly beamed and grabbed her in a huge hug.

"See I told you! So what happened?" Daniel asked with a little too much interest as he let her go.

Cassie laughed out loud and Sam finally cottoned on to what was going on.

"Well, we had a really good talk this morning and cleared up a few things that had been looming over us from the beginning." She said with a sigh of relief.

"So you two are back seeing each other?" Sam asked frowning and shifting uncomfortably on her stool.

"Yeah!" Cassie said beaming, then realising the look on Sam's face was not one of joy like hers, she softened her features and looked calmly at Sam and took both her hands in hers.

"Sam this is good. It's what I want, he makes me happy, I love him and he loves me and he's what I _need_. I love you guys, you're my family and nothing will change that, but I need more now. Please, please, please be happy for me." Cassie pleaded with Sam, her eyes tearing up.

_Please Sam!_

Sam looked torn, she seemed to have calmed down a little from yesterday but sometimes you just couldn't tell. She looked up at Cassie and then glanced at Daniel, who was staring expectantly at Sam.

"You know I never really noticed how much you'd gone and grown up in the last few years. Actually if I'm honest with myself I've been trying to _**ignore **_the fact that you've gone and grown up on us. We really have no control over you anymore do we?" Sam said with a sad smile before continuing.

"When I found out about all this yesterday I thought it'll be ok, it was just another relationship like the others and that it was over before it even started and I would be able to step in and pick up the pieces like I always have done. We weren't going to loose our little girl… Boy! was I wrong!"

"Sam…" Cassie tried to say but Sam held up her hand to stop her.

"Let me finish... The last date you wanted to go on you came and asked for our permission and now… you don't need our permission and you've realised that you don't and… that's a lot to take in as a parent, because that's how we see ourselves, Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and I, as your parents, albeit unconventional parents but parents just the same. We don't want to loose you." She finished, tears spilling down her face.

Cassie too was balling by now. She looked over at Daniel who was also a little misty eyed and he nodded as if to confirm everything that Sam had said. Cassie got down from her stool and moved around the lab table and pulled Sam into a hug.

"You will _always _be my family and I will _always_ be your little girl." She said through her own tears and hugging Sam even tighter. Cassie heard a sob come from Sam and felt Sam's hug also tighten in response. After a moment they pulled away from each other and Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I am happy for you and I will be here for you not matter what." Sam said. Cassie couldn't help squealing like a little girl and hugging Sam once again.

"Thank you, I still need you too, very much so, I have all this stuff floating around in my head and… " she said, her voice fading as she realised what she was about to say and not wanting to do so in front of Daniel. Sam court on to the pause and signalled for Daniel to get out.

"But it's my lab!" he whined but started walking out just the same.

After the door closed behind him Sam faced Cassie again "What is it, what's wrong?"

Cassie paused, took a deep breath and let it out really slowly. "It's nothing I guess, just me… we were… intimate and…"

"By 'intimate' you mean…" Sam asked.

"Please don't make me say it" Cassie whined.

"Okay. Okay" Sam said holding her hands up trying to calm Cassie down. "Take a breath."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

'Nothing! Well not 'nothing', it was great but…" Cassie trailed off again knowing that she was being silly.

Sam sighed knowing what this was about. "Cassie I don't know much about Major Davis, Paul, but I DO know that he is NOT Domenic." She said "For starters he's not a silly little teenage boy who wouldn't know a good thing if it bit him on the arse. What did he say when you brought it up?"

"He brought it up and I didn't say anything. I kind of ignored the question and changed the subject" Cassie replied and winced at the look on Sam's face.

"He brought it up and you ignored it?" she said making sure that she heard Cassie right.

"Yeah" Cassie confirmed.

Sam was silent for a moment then said reassuringly "Well he stayed didn't he?"

This got a smile out of Cassie "Yeah, he did" she said blushing.

"Then what's the problem?" Sam said smiling "I think that you are trying to create problems where there are none and I think you know it." She teased. Cassie sighed.

"You're right, I know it's just me" she said rolling her eyes at herself again.

"Good, just… if he brings it up again you need to tell him. From what I hear you two have already been through enough with out _more_ tension." Sam said using her best 'Janet' voice.

Cassie smiled at Sam's attempt and nodded in agreement.

"Ok."

* * *

It was nearing eleven PM and Cassie was exhausted. Playing back the days events in her mind she decided that it had been a very emotional day for all concerned. She couldn't believe that so much had happened in a little over fourteen hours.

Lying on the couch barely able to keep her eyes open she decided that enough was enough and she had to make it to her bed before she fell asleep for good. May was safely tucked away in the downstairs guest bedroom, she had turned in about half an hour ago and Paul was at the other end of the couch with Cassie's legs in his lap also falling asleep.

Shifting to a sitting position and swinging her legs off his lap she made to stand.

"Hmm… what's wrong?" Paul whispered waking himself up at the sudden loss.

"Nothing, just going to make sure the cat is in and then bed. Why don't you go up, I'll meet you there in a minute" She whispered making it to her feet and heading out the room checking all the chairs on the way to the kitchen for Miss Mabel.

She found her in the kitchen having a late night snack out of her bowl and scratched the little cat behind the ears before kissing her head.

"Be good" she said before heading back through the house to check that the front door was locked then headed upstairs switching off lights as she went.

She closed the door to the bedroom as she came through and found Paul sitting on the edge of the bed, he had already changed and smiled at her as she made her way over to him.

"Hey" he said pulling her between his legs.

"Hey" she reciprocated before bending down and kissing him then pulled away and head to the bathroom. Once she'd changed and brushed her teeth she headed back to the bed and found he was still just sitting there.

Cassie climbed on to the bed and made her way to the other side before getting under the covers and waited for him to do the same.

"You ok?" she asked when he didn't seem to move, but this seemed to suddenly spur him on as he turned around and climbed under the covers so that they were facing each other.

"Yeah, just thinking about everything that happened today. Pretty big stuff." He said searching out for her hand resting on top of the covers and intertwining his fingers with hers.

"I was just thinking the same. It's been a pretty full on day." She agreed "But a good day." She added.

"Yes, definitely a good day…" He agreed before adding slowly "... We took a pretty big step earlier, I know you said you were ok with it but you seemed to be trying to avoid talking about it."

_Oh boy! _

"Well there's been a lot of other stuff going on so...." she said not really knowing what else there was to say about and suddenly tried to avoid eye contact with him.

"Cassie…" he whispered releasing her hand and cupping the side of her face so that he could turn her back to face him. "What is it?"

_Stop it Cassie you're being silly! He wouldn't be here if he didn't want to be. And you know it! Just tell him. _

"I…" She started and then sighed "...the last time I was… intimate with someone… it didn't go so well… and I…" she stumbled over her words and lowered her eyes again not wanting to see his reaction.

"Domenic…" he stated coldly. Cassie closed her eyes in pain of the memory and shifted uncomfortably.

Realising that she had taken his statement the wrong way, Paul again turned her to look at him. "Earlier was amazing, I love you and I'm not going anywhere. I need and want you so much." he said sincerely Cassie's eyes watered up and he pulled on her arm.

She smiled and allowed him to pull her over to him, he kissed her softly and slowly, burying his hand in her hair.

Their kiss soon became rather lazy as sleep started to seep in once again and Cassie pulled away.

"I love you too." She said and then slowly turned around in his arms to face the other way and scooted back so that he could snuggle up behind her and wrap his arm around her waist. With in minutes they were fast asleep.

End of Chapter 34


	35. Apologies

Chapter 35

**APOLOGIES **

Cassie's morning had been relatively slow. She had woken up just after 08:00, Daniel had told her to take her time coming into work so she had allowed herself a little sleep in. After an argument with Paul about him staying in bed, he wanted to get up and go in to work with her and she had told him he had to stay with May, she had showered and dressed for the day.

Coming out of the bathroom and expecting to see Paul still in bed, she frowned at the now empty bed.

_Stubborn man! Where's he gone?_

Cassie made her way downstairs and headed for the kitchen. When she arrived she found both Paul and May sitting at the kitchen table with drinks in their hands.

"Good morning May." Cassie said with a smile "Did you sleep well?" She made her way over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup.

"Good Morning, Dear yes, thankyou I did." May replied with a smile.

Cassie came and sat down next to Paul at the table with her coffee. She nudged him playfully before giving him a brilliant smile. "You're not coming with me." she stated once again.

"We'll see about that." He replied nudging her in return and then turned his attention back to May.

"What are you two talking about?" May asked.

"He thinks he is coming to work with me and he's not." Cassie stated ignoring Paul who was shaking his head back and forth "He is staying here to keep you company and to greet his parents when they get here."

"Well that sounds reasonable" May said looking at Paul "we hardly ever get to see you, I think that your mother would like that."

"But…" Paul tried but gave up knowing that he was losing. "Ok, Fine I'll stay here."

"It's REALLY hard for you to take a holiday isn't it?" Cassie said shuffling her chair closer to him so that she could lean against him. He pulled her to him and kissed her forehead.

"I just don't want to be away from you." He said.

"Oh you two are so wonderful together" May exclaimed clasping her hands together in delight "you are making a very old woman very happy!"

* * *

Cassie had arrived at the base just before 09:30 and was in the lab looking over her notes for the artefact when Daniel arrived in his 'off world' gear.

"Hey you, how are you feeling?" he asked as he came and sat next to her.

"I'm good thanks, you?" she asked.

"yeah good, we are heading off world in half an hour of so, should be back about 19:00 hours. Will you be ok on your own today?" he said.

Cassie rolled her eyes at Daniel "Yes Daniel, I think I can be left on my own in this little lab like I have been hundreds of times before." She said sarcastically.

"Just checking" he said defensively.

"Ok… have fun off world. I'm going to head home early, since Paul's parents are coming. I only came in so that I'm not there when Mary and John arrive. I don't want them to feel uncomfortable so I thought that I'd let them settle in before I make an appearance." She said looking back at her notes.

"I just want to try and make some headway on this machine's translation. It's really starting to bug me and now that I have a clearer mind I intend to solve it." She added full of confidence.

"Knock your self out! I've had enough of the damn thing" Daniel said with a smile, it was nice seeing her back to normal. "I'll see you tomorrow, take care" with that he headed for the door.

"Bye, be safe and come back in one piece!" she called out after him then got stuck into her work.

* * *

_Oh god!!! My head!!_

"Grhhh…why can't I solve this thing!?!" she shouted to the empty room.

"That bad huh!!"

Cassie spun around in shock to find Jack standing in the doorway.

"Don't do that!" Cassie scolded as Jack moved in the room.

"Sorry Kiddo" he said then ignoring the death glare from Cassie, took a seat and asked "what'cha doin" as he looked at her notes, turning them this way and that, trying to make sense of them.

"Banging my head against a brick wall" she huffed sitting back in her chair and rubbing her eyes and her forehead.

"You got another head ache?" he asked frowning her.

"Yeah, but I'm just tired." She said looking over at the clock on the wall. It read 14:30.

"Maybe you should get checked out" he said slowly.

"Don't you start! I'm fine. But I think I'm going to head home soon" she said eyeing up the machine in the corner.

"Yeah, go for it, call it a day! I'd join you but I've got hours of debriefings to get through." He said, bored.

"Well that's what you get when you're the boss!" Cassie beamed as she stood and started gathering things together so that the lab wasn't such a mess.

"Yeah, yeah rub it in" he said sarcastically and then stopped as if contemplating something before he added "you seem happier than you've been the last week, I'm glad that what ever was bumming you out is sorted."

With that he left.

_Not much gets past you, does it, Jack. Not as dumb as you play it._

Finishing up in the lab she headed home.

* * *

Driving up the street she noticed the new car in her driveway straight away. Pulling up behind it she turned off the engine and let out a sigh, bracing herself for this next obstacle. She had decided ages ago that she had no animosity towards Mary but she had no idea how Mary was going to react to her.

_Well she agreed to stay here so it can't be that bad._

Taking another deep breath she got out the car and headed up the path. Opening the front door she chucked her stuff on the hall table and listened for sound elsewhere in the house. Hearing voices in the kitchen she called out so not to startle anyone.

"I'm home!" she called out and waited for a response. With in seconds Paul came from the kitchen with a surprised look on his face.

"Hey" he said coming up to her and kissing her.

"Hey yourself, everything ok? What are you all doing in the kitchen?" she asked after pulling away and moving around him and heading towards the kitchen. He followed her and stopped behind her when she stopped in the door way.

The sight that greeted her was not what she had expected. John and May were sitting at the kitchen table with coffee but Mary was in the kitchen and had taken over. She seemed to be cooking up a storm.

"Hi, what's going on in here?" Cassie asked.

Mary seemed to freeze where she stood not sure how to react but John jumped to his feet and pulled Cassie in to a hug surprising her.

"Hello Cassie, how are you? Good I hope" he said releasing her and stepping back. Before she could respond he continued "I don't know how to thank you for helping my mother the other day, you really didn't have to after... well"

"It was nothing, really" Cassie said a little embarrassed and wanting to change the subject she moved into the kitchen to find out what was cooking.

_Smells great!_

"What you cooking" she asked. Mary seemed to shuffle about nervously before finding her voice.

"Um… a chicken dish, it's a white wine sauce… you do like chicken don't you?" she asked suddenly alarmed.

Cassie smiled at the older woman "sounds great, I can't wait" she said kindly and Mary relaxed letting out the breath that see had been holding.

"Oh good!" Mary exclaimed then receiving an encouraging look from John she became rather serious and nervous again. She took a breath and began "Cassie…"

"Mary, its fine. Don't worry about it." Cassie said with a smile. Mary smiled too and Cassie once again found herself being pulled into a hug. She returned the hug and couldn't stop Mary from whispering "I'm so sorry" in her ear.

Pulling away she moved back towards the door "I'm just going to dump my stuff upstairs I'll be back in a minute" she announced and headed for the stairs.

She knew that Paul was following her but she ignored him until she was in her room and she turned around as he came through the door. He closed it behind him and moved over to her.

"Well that went better than I had expected" she said as he came to a stop in front of her and placed his hands on her waist.

He tugged her towards him and kissed her. Cassie responded immediately and stepped as close as she could to him and encircled her hands around his neck pulling him flush against her. He deepened the kiss and backed her up to the bed causing her to fall back and squeal with laughter, him following her down. He laughed with her and rolled off of her so that he wasn't crushing her.

"Yeah it did, didn't it?" he said answering her question. "How was your day? You're home early."

"Not too bad, SG1 went off world today so I had the place to my self. Got a bit of a headache though… but that's enough about me how was your day? How long have your parents been here?" she asked.

"A couple of hours, they made really good time. Actually it's been nice just spending a few hours with them on our own. I have rarely been back on my own in the last few years, only ever for family gatherings and you saw what that was like. It's been quite peaceful… but then I get the feeling that you knew that when you forced me to stay here today" he said

"Not just a pretty face, me!" Cassie beamed. "Actually Nana may have mentioned it when we were chatting yesterday." She added with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah well it won't work tomorrow, I have to head back to Washington in the afternoon and Mum & Dad intend to head back home early in the morning." He said gauging her reaction.

Cassie's face fell into a frown and she pouted her lips. "Really? That soon?" she said.

"I'm afraid so. I've got a pretty big negotiation on the go with the Russian's. They will be flying in on Thursday so I need to prepare." He said.

Cassie just groaned burying her face in Paul's shoulder and muttered "stupid Russians" under her breath.

Paul chuckled at her comment and pulled her in to a hug. "Don't worry I won't be gone too long. As luck would have it I'm due back the day after your birthday so I'm going to catch an early flight the afternoon before so I'll be here on _the _day." He said smiling at her, knowing the mention of her birthday would irritate her but not been able to help teasing her.

"That's not funny, and it's still two weeks away." She said still pouting.

"I know but we've managed before." He said

"Yeah I guess we have" Cassie said sitting up and straightening her clothes. "Come on, your parents will be wondering where we have got to" she said standing and pulling Paul to his feet.

"Mmm.. you know, you're in for a real treat with this chicken dish, it's the best." He answered as they made their way downstairs for a nice dinner.

End of Chapter 35


	36. Distractions and Goodbyes

Chapter 36

**DISTRACTIONS AND GOODBYES**

Cassie was sitting in the lab the next morning looking over Daniel's mission report from the previous day. SG1 had been visiting a settlement that had been built next to some old ruins and Daniel had been permitted by the village elders to photograph some of the ancient writings as they themselves had no idea on how to translate them. In return for shared information on the translation the villagers were willing to take on a number of refugees if needed in the future. Since the SGC seemed to end up searching for suitable locations to relocate people often in their travels this was an alliance that they were strongly wanting to follow up on so translating the text was now Cassie and Daniel's number one priority. The translation it self probably wouldn't take all that long as it was in Ancient but the amount of writing was quite extensive.

_YAY! A break from that horrid machine!!!! _

Daniel had gone off to a briefing with Sam and Jack so she was just killing time till he got back. Her mind began to wonder back to last night and earlier this morning, She had enjoyed a nice evening with Paul and his parents, with all thoughts of the past gone. It had been great and there had been no tension at all. Then this morning Mary, John and May had left just before 7am so that they would not catch too much traffic and Paul and Cassie had headed in to the SGC.

Paul was off dealing with a few last minute things around the Base before catching his flight back to Washington around 14:00 hours. He had said he would find her before he left for an early lunch so she was trying not to think to much about him leaving until she had too.

_Easier said than done! _

Daniel, Jack, Sam and Teal'c strolled into the lab, Daniel and Jack arguing about something as usual.

"You just don't get how important that could be!" Daniel exclaimed in annoyance.

"Yes, I do! In a round about sort of way. But what I don't get is why it has to be now, why should we drop everything so that they can go and poke about in what ever it was" Jack countered.

Sam just rolled her eyes at Cassie and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Cassie just giggled at the site of the four of them.

"Besides you've got more important thing to do like this translation on those ruins and then get back to _that_ thing" Jack said flicking his hand at the artefact sitting in the corner. "We should really name it, don't ya think?" He added as an after thought.

"How about 'Machine from Hell'?" Cassie piped up.

"I like that. Has a nice ring to it…" Jack said thoughtfully "but I don't think the Pentagon will go for it."

"Oh well, worth a try… hey, next time Atlantis dials in ask Colonel Sheppard, he's good at naming things" she suggested.

Jack nodded in approval "I like it! Anyway I better get back up there, SG13 is about to embark on a three day expedition." Jack said spinning on the spot before making for the door.

"I will join you, O'Neill" Teal'c said following Jack out the room leaving Daniel and Sam with Cassie.

Daniel was fuming "He did it again! We hadn't finished discussing…"

"arguing…" Cassie corrected

"….arguing about the…."

"Don't get worked up about it Daniel, he's right you've got enough on your plate already." Sam interrupted and Daniel slumped into his chair at his desk.

"Don't worry Daniel, this translation won't take that long, week and a half max, and then we will only have that thing to worry about" Cassie said once again signalling the machine in the corner.

"Yeah, I guess." He said defeated.

"What was it that you were talking about anyway?" Cassie asked

"Don't even go there!" Sam whispered harshly not wanting to start all over again.

"Sorry! Forget I asked" Cassie said holding her hands up in surrender.

'So what have you been doing whilst we were gone?" Daniel asked changing the subject, his argument forgotten.

"Oh just kept myself busy with reading your Report from P3X 988. Like I said shouldn't be too difficult" she said handing back the folder to him.

"Yeah, they seemed like a really nice group of people. It would be great if we could relocate some people there. I'm heading back there tomorrow with SG2 to supply them with some new crops to plant. Bit of a good will gesture. Specking of which I better check how the supplies for that are coming along, I'll see you at lunch?" Sam said.

"Oh, I'm having an early lunch with Paul. Raincheck?" Cassie said

"Oh, ok. Daniel?" she said

"Yeah meet you at one in the mess hall?" Daniel replied.

"You're on. See you then. Bye Cass!" Sam said heading out the lab leaving Daniel and Cassie to start their days work.

Time flew and soon it was just after 12:00 and Paul appeared in the doorway, with his bags, to the lab to see Cassie and Daniel sitting on the floor surround by photos.

"I think this one goes over there with that one." Cassie said handing the photo that she had in her hand to Daniel to place with another. She had her back to the door so she had not noticed Paul's arrival.

"Knock, knock" He said to get her and Daniel's attention and Cassie spun around where she was sitting with a huge smile on her face, it soon fell when she noticed that he had already changed into his navy blues and was carrying his bags to leave.

"Hey" she said attempting to stand with out mixing up any of the photos around her.

"Hi, you able to take a break? Looks like I don't have time for lunch but I was hoping that you could ride up with me in the elevator" he said reaching out a hand to help her navigate her way out of the photo maze.

"Daniel?" She asked turning back around to Daniel.

"Go" Daniel said with a smile before returning back to his photos.

They left and headed for the elevator. They were almost there when Paul suddenly stopped about ten metres away and opened a door on his left and pulled Cassie inside.

"Wha…." Cassie whispered as he closed the door and flicked on the light. Cassie looked around to find that they were in a VIP room.

"I can't really say goodbye how I would like to in the elevator or the car park topside." Pauls said in answer to Cassie's questioning look.

"Oh" was all she got out before he was kissing her and Cassie melted immediately into his arms and pulled him close. After a moment he pulled away only far enough to rest his forehead against hers.

"If we let that continue I'll never get out of here." He chuckled to himself.

"I don't have a problem with that." Cassie whispered ghosting his lips with hers and then pulling further way to look him in the eyes.

"Tease" he said and captured her lips in another kiss a little more forceful this time.

Cassie giggled against him before pulling away and resting her head on his chest. She took a deep breath and sighed relaxing against him as he tightened his hold on her.

"How long are you going to be gone again?" she asked.

"Twelve days" he stated.

"Stupid Russians" Cassie stated again causing Paul to chuckle.

"I agree" he said pulling away

"Arghh… I feel like I only just got you back and your leaving again." Cassie pouted.

"I know but I have to go." Paul said cupping the side of her face so that she had to look at him. "I love you."

"Love you too" Cassie said not being able to stop the tears that were forming. Swiping at the offending tears she continued "I don't think that it would be a good idea to come topside with you. Not with me blubbering like this. Might look a little sus."

"Yeah, probably not" he said smiling down at her and stopping her hands movements so that he could wipe her tears away with his own thumb " I'll call you tonight when I get in"

"You better" she warned then added a little more pathetically "Promise?"

"Promise."

"Ok" she said reaching up to kiss him again. This kiss was slow as if they were trying to memorise the other.

"Ok, time to go" he said pulling away and grabbing his bags.

"I'm going to stay here till you're gone" Cassie said as she moved over to the door.

He quickly kissed her once more before whispering "Bye" and she opened the door so that he could leave.

"Bye" she mouthed as he left.

Cassie closed the door after he had gone and moved over to the couch in the room. She collapsed on to it and took a deep breath willing herself to calm down.

_12 days and counting…_

End of Chapter 36


	37. Bye, Bye 'Machine From Hell'

Chapter 37

**BYE, BYE 'MACHINE FROM HELL'**

Soon it was Friday morning once again and Cassie was counting down the minutes to 1300hrs when she was to meet the gang in the Mess Hall for lunch. With Sam just returning from P3X 988 and the translation for Daniel and Cassie coming along nicely, things had been pretty quiet around the Base the last few days, even the emails from Kemp seemed to have stopped.

_Thank god!! I was not looking forward to having to tell Jack that I had been keeping __**that**__ from him._

All in all it had been a good couple of days and in Cassie's opinion could have only been improved by having Paul there. He had called her every night when he had gotten in and they talked for hours but she missed him terribly.

Getting restless sitting there waiting for the time to tick over and feeling the start of a head ache coming on Cassie decided that 'ten to' was close enough and jumped up from her seat and headed for the Mess Hall.

On arrival she noticed Sam, Daniel and Tealc already sitting at a table.

"Hey we were just going to ring down to you" Sam said as Cassie came up to the table and slid into one of the empty seats.

"Hi guys, that's cool, where's Jack?" she said as she eyed up the toffee pudding on Tealc's plate.

"He had to take a call, he should be here soon." Daniel said but Cassie wasn't paying attention.

"Would you like my dessert Cassandra?" Tealc offered to which Cassie smiled innocently. With out waiting for a reply Tealc handed her the dessert and a spoon.

"Thanks Tealc!" she said smiling and opening the dessert.

"You are welcome." He said.

"Cassie you can't just have dessert for lunch." Sam scolded giving her 'the look'.

"I know! I'll get something else in a minute but I feel like I need sugar." Cassie said around a mouthful of pudding.

The others just stared at her and were only broken out of their trance with the arrival of Jack.

"Sorry about that folks, can't really ignore the Pentagon when they ring." He said taking the last empty seat. Mention of the Pentagon spiked Cassie's interest and she couldn't help the silly smile on her face as she dug into her dessert once again while her mind wandered to a certain Major.

"You ok there Kiddo?" Jack said as he and the rest of the table caught her expression.

_Ooops! _

"Really good pudding" she answered having to think quickly on her feet "And stop calling me that" she added.

Jack looked at her with that expression he got when eying someone up "You know, if I didn't know any better I would say that you were in…"

_Oh my god! Now you're in trouble Frasier. _

"_**ANYWAY!!!!**_ What did they want?" Daniel interrupted before Jack could finish his sentence.

_Phewww…. Daniel to the rescue_

"Oh yeah, bad news I'm afraid. Time is up on the 'Machine from Hell'. I've been order to have it packed for shipping on Monday." Jack said loosing track of his previous line of thought.

"But we haven't finished with it, they can't be serious." Daniel protested.

"As a heart attack" Jack said "Sorry folks, seems that that doctor pulled a few strings higher up. Gather what you have and pack it all up. It's leaving first thing Monday morning." He finished, making a flying away motion with his hand.

"But Sir…"

"Don't even go there Carter, I tried and they wouldn't budge." Jack said.

"Well even though I think that it's a mistake to move it, I for one won't be sorry to see it go, I'm sick of being in the same room as it all day long. I've said it before but I'll say it again, it creeps me out" Cassie said finishing her dessert and then licking the spoon clean.

"There is that" Daniel said in agreement "and with it gone now I can look at that other thing we were talking about earl…"

"No! The answer is still no!" Jack said cutting him off before he could launch into another speech on the latest 'incredible find'.

"Oh don't start that again you two!" Sam scolded and Cassie giggled as she got up to check out the lunch specials.

By the time she had returned with her own tray they had finally moved on to other topics of conversation and Jack and Sam were laughing at something that Daniel had said that was apparently hilarious.

_Oh yes things are definitely getting back to normal!_

* * *

Cassie didn't get home till nearly 8 o'clock that night as she had stayed to help Daniel pack up the machine for shipping. After hearing the news that it was been shipped out Daniel had decided to have one last crack at the translations. He had only given up just after six when Jack had come down to make sure that it was in it's shipping crate and had practically torn Daniel away from it. Which Cassie was very grateful for as her head hurt and it had been getting late, especially for a Friday afternoon when all anyone wanted to do was go home.

_Yay! Weekend!_

Dumping her stuff on the kitchen table she made sure that Mabel's bowl was full before opening the fridge to look for a quick snack and pulled out the jumbo size tub of Chocolate YoGo.

Brriing, Brriing

Cassie practically sprang across to the opposite wall in the room and snatched the phone off its hook and pressed 'talk'

"Hello?" she said with anticipation

"Hey you" came Paul's voice on the other end

"Hey yourself" she said catching her breath.

"I tried a couple of times earlier but you weren't there. Where've you been?" he asked

"Oh I've just walked in the door, long day. Hey what's this about Dr 'what's his face' going higher up and getting his grubby little hands on the 'Machine from Hell'?" she asked

"I didn't know that we had named it" he said

"Well it's only a temporary name until we can get hold of Atlantis to ask Colonel Sheppard." She replied.

"Why Colonel Sheppard?" he asked a little lost.

"He's good at naming things. He's named all the new technologies on Atlantis and this one needs a particularly good name." She joked as she grabbed a spoon from the draw and made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room with her YoGo to collapse on the sofa.

"Riiiight" he said catching on.

"So, do you know anything about it?" she asked "oh and just so we're clear, yes this is me using our relationship to obtain inside information" she joked.

"Well since we're clear on that" he said playing along "No, I don't know anymore than you do. Sorry."

"Well, what use are you to me if you can't even get me the goss?" she teased

"I'll remind you next time I'm there" he insinuated.

Cassie couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips "I can't wait" she said getting hold of her self then sobering up she added "I miss you."

"Oh you have no idea how much I miss you too." He added

They talked for a little longer about random things before Cassie's vision started to get blurry and decided that she was in need of some sleep and reluctantly said goodnight, hung up the phone and dragged her self up to bed.

* * *

Daniel was moping and it was pathetic.

The weekend had flown by, being taken up with mundane things like cleaning and washing, and it was now Monday. The Airman had just left with the crate containing the 'Machine from Hell' leaving Daniel staring at the big gap in the corner of the room.

"Oh don't worry Daniel I'm sure they can find you something else to put in the gap for you to study." She said patting him on the back.

"Huh, what… Oh yes, I just get the feeling that we haven't seen the last of it." He said

"I know what you mean and I don't think it's going to be under good circumstances either." She added.

_Ok now we're both depressed! Great! It's a __**machine**__ for goodness sake!!!_

Rolling her eyes at how pathetic the site of the two of them standing there must look, she turned around and focused on their other unfinished project.

"Come on, lets get this finished" she said indicating the board with the photos of the ruins stuck to it. "We're nearly done".

* * *

By Thursday afternoon the translation was finished and Daniel and Cassie were just finishing up some lose ends when Sam and Jack came in to the Lab.

At seeing their arrival Cassie smiled brightly "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Eh, got a slight problem actually… you know that crate… it never made it to Area 51." Jack said

"What?" Daniel said looking up for the first time since his friends had entered the room.

"Yeah, the truck never made it. Just disappeared in to thin air." Jack said, miming its disappearance with his arms.

_Well that's not good!_

"What do you mean, it can't have just vanished?" Daniel said getting up.

"Well technically _we_ can do that, Asgard beaming tech on the Prometheus and Deadalus" Sam piped up

Jack just through her a dirty look and said "not helping"

"Sorry Sir" she said "but we can"

"Well what can we do about it?" Cassie asked "We weren't in charge of shipping it were we?" She asked

"No, and the Pentagon are putting a special team together who are dealing with the actual theft, if that's what it was, they just thought that we should know. They might want to question some of us during their investigation. Apparently we have the 'knowledge and expertise' to pull something like this off. Like we wanted to keep it that bad that we'd steal it" Jack said sarcastically.

Then taking a breath he continued "Anyway, General Hammond has asked that we make ourselves available for questioning if need be so if you get asked…"

"Yeah we get it." Cassie said relieving Jack of having to finish his sentence.

_Brilliant! This is just what we need! More drama! Never a dull moment!_

End of Chapter 37


	38. Another 'Great' Birthday

Chapter 38

**ANOTHER 'GREAT' BIRTHDAY**

Cassie's day was not going well. She wasn't really surprised by this as it was her birthday and they never seemed to go well.

It had been three days since the 'machine from hell' had been 'stolen' and things had not been all that great since. Friday, both Daniel and Cassie had been questioned regarding its disappearance and there had been an uneasiness in the air all day Saturday. The whole Base was on edge so Cassie was glad to get away, even if it had only been for Sunday. The whole situation had been made worse by the fact that she had not been able to speak to Paul since Friday as he had been tied up with the Russians all weekend.

But now it was Monday, her twenty first birthday, and she had woken at 4am. Unable to fall back to sleep, she had decided to get up and do a few things around the house before going in to work. Since then she had broken her hairdryer, a rather expensive vase and the coffee machine had decided that this morning was the perfect time to stop working.

_Stupid bloody birthday!_

The elevator doors opened signalling her arrival on Sublevel 27 of the SGC and was greeted by Sam and Daniel both sporting silly hats and big grins on their faces.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" they both chimed at the same time

"You two have lost it" Cassie said with a stone cold face "How long have you been here and how many times has this elevator opened since you've been waiting?" she said stepping out of the elevator and turning to head to the lab.

"Not long" Daniel said as he and Sam grabbed their bags off the floor and caught up to her.

_They haven't even put their stuff away yet!_

"So how has your day been so far?" Sam asked

"My hairdryer broke first thing this morning and it's been down hill from there." Cassie grumbled as they turned another corner.

_What's that smell?_

"Oh, well I'm sure it can only get better from here" Sam said enthusiastically then added "can you smell something really floral?"

They turned another corner and reached the lab. The minute they entered the room they all stopped dead and Cassie's stomach dropped. Taking in the room she suddenly had an overwhelming sick feeling in her stomach.

_Oh. My. God!_

Every surface in the lab, even parts of the floor, was covered with hundreds of vases full of red roses and the scent was overwhelming.

Slowly the three of them made their way in to the room taking in the sight before them.

"Whow!" Daniel exclaimed

Ignoring him Cassie moved slowly over to the vase sitting on her desk and found a card tucked in amongst the flowers. Picking it up, she opened the envelope.

_**I'll See You Soon!**_

"I never really pick Major Davis as the romantic type." Sam commented as she smelt the roses nearest to her.

"There not from Paul" Cassie said absently after reading the note again and taking another look around the room, her mind reeling.

Sam frowned "what makes you say that? I mean, who else would they be from?" she said coming up to look at the note in Cassie's hand.

"There red." Cassie whispered starting to breathe a little harder. "He would never buy me red roses. He knows I hate them."

_Who on earth would send me… no?!?... It couldn't be…_

"Then who…?" Daniel said but Cassie interrupted him suddenly overwhelmed.

"I need to get out of this room" she said frantically turning and rushing out the door.

"Cassie!" Sam called out, worry evident in her voice, following her out the room. Cassie was leaning up against the wall about 20 feet down the corridor taking deep breaths trying to calm down.

"Cassie, do you know who sent them?" Sam asked gently placing her hand on Cassie's shoulder as Daniel caught up to them.

_Yes! But I really hope I'm wrong! … Please let me be wrong!_

"Yeah, I think I do…" She said fear now evident in her eyes as she looked between Daniel and Sam.

Just then Jack and Tealc came round the corner and on seeing them Jack frowned.

"Daniel, what's going on? Why are we standing in hallway? And what was with the 'get down here now' phone call." He said knowing even as he said it that there was something going on.

"Cassie who sent them?" Sam asked again ignoring the General but Cassie was in her own little world and wasn't paying attention.

_How many times do I have to say I'm not interested?_

"Sent what?" Jack asked getting impatient.

"In the lab" Daniel instructed pointing towards his door and Jack and Tealc went to the door way.

"Whaoh!! What the…?" Jack said before snapping out of his shock and coming back over to where Cassie, Daniel and Sam were standing.

"Ok, so I'm guessing that this was an unwanted surprise, hey Kiddo" Jack said gently to Cassie who finally looked up with tears in her eyes and nodding.

"Who sent them?" he asked looking her in the eye.

She began to shake and opened her mouth to answer him but couldn't get the words out "I…. eh… I need my laptop. There's something I need to show you." She whispered.

"T, get the laptop and meet us in the briefing room" Jack said to Tealc as Sam pulled Cassie to her in a hug and they headed for the stairs round the corner.

* * *

Tealc set the laptop in front of Cassie on the briefing table and she took a deep breath. She had had a few minutes now to gather her thoughts and was thinking a lot clearer than before.

_Why did it have to be RED roses? Anything else but those…_

Switching on the computer, she opened her email and went in to the deleted mail file before turning it around so that Jack and Sam could see the screen.

"His name is Kemp, I don't even know his first name, and he's a lieutenant in Washington." Cassie said after giving them time to skim the contents of the screen.

"He was the person who picked me up from the airport and was to show me around the Pentagon. He asked me out, I refused, told him I was not interested, and I thought he understood but then _they_ started showing up in my inbox." She said gesturing to the laptop.

"I sent an email back about two weeks ago telling him to leave me alone and he stopped writing so I thought that he had finally got the message." She finished.

The room was silent and Cassie looked up to gauge the reactions on her family's faces.

Daniel and Sam had concern on her face and Jack was frowning but the look on Tealc's face scared her the most. He was pissed!

"We must find this human" Tealc stated standing from his chair to pace the room.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sam asked "and how did that size shipment get on to the Base?"

"I thought I'd handled it, and I was so caught up in other stuff that I didn't really pay much attention to it." She answered as her mind reeled over everything else that had been happening.

_Oh Crap! Paul's is going to FREAK!_

"So let me get this straight, this guy has been stalking you for nearly, what, six weeks and you didn't think to tell anyone?" Jack said slowly.

Cassie looked up at him and nodded "Well I wouldn't have used the word 'stalked', it was just a few nuisance emails, today is the first time it has escalated to anything more than that. I swear! I just didn't want to freak you guys out over something that I didn't put much stock in my self. I honestly didn't think it was a big deal"

Jack regarded her for a moment before shouting "WALTER!" making both Cassie and Sam jump.

Then directly addressing Cassie he said sternly "You are not to leave the Base unless you are with one of us or an armed guard. Is that clear?"

"Yes" she said as Walter came into the room from the control room below.

"Sir?" Walter said addressing Jack

"Find out all you can on a Lieutenant Kemp, he works out of Washington." Jack said.

"Yes Sir"

"And Walter, find out who signed for the shipment. Someone authorised its delivery, I want to know who."

"Yes Sir"

"Oh and Walter, on the quiet" Jack added

"Yes Sir" the little man said for the third time before leaving.

"Carter, can you trace these emails? We need to know if he used a government computer of not." Jack said

"Yes Sir." Sam said swinging the computer back round to face her and started her search immediately.

Cassie slumped back in her chair and sighed miserably.

_God I feel like I'm five years old right now? I feel like I'm being sent to my room with out my toys… speaking of toys…_

"Do you think you could take me home to get some stuff together? If I have to stay here the next few days I at least want some of my own things with me, oh, and I need to organise for someone to feed Mabel." Cassie asked Daniel

"Um… sure as long as Jack clears it" Daniel said looking over at Jack.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea" Jack said nodding his head "But don't let her out of your sight"

* * *

Cassie and Daniel made their way though the front door of Cassie's house.

"I'll just grab some stuff from up stairs, can you find Mabel for me?" Cassie said heading for the stairs.

"I'll come with you, you heard what Jack said. No letting you out of my sight." Daniel said following her.

_Oh for crying out loud! I think I can make it to the bedroom and back ok!_

"Daniel, don't be silly I'm only going in to my bedroom. I don't think anything weird is going to happen in there. Please, find Mabel" Cassie said shooing him away and heading up the stairs. She could hear him sigh below her and then heard him head for the kitchen.

She continued up the stairs and made her way into the bedroom. Surveying the room she dug out a bag from under the bed and made her way into the wardrobe. Whilst she was pulling out clothes and stuffing them in the bag she heard the back door open and Daniel calling for Mabel.

_Ha! He can't find her. Now he knows how I feel when I complain about her disappearances._

Making her way to the ensuite she started collecting things up when she heard a thud downstairs.

_Oh dear! that cat must be playing hard to get._

Grabbing her stuff she made her way back down the hall and down the stairs. Getting to the bottom she dumped her bag by the door and called out to find Daniel.

"Daniel" she called waiting in the hallway but there was no response.

"Daniel, where are you?" she called again but still got nothing.

_Where the hell is he? She can't be that far I left her in!_

Just then a shadow cut across the living room window down the side of the house making Cassie pause.

_Something's wrong!_

Slowly she started walking towards the kitchen listening for any movement and searching for the shadow outside.

"Daniel, can you here me?" she called again nearing the slightly open door.

Pushing the door open a little she peered into the room. At first everything seemed normal, just as she had left it, so she opened the door fully only to find Daniel lying face down on the floor.

_Oh my God!_

"Daniel!" she shouted running over to him and bending down next to him. She immediately felt for a pulse and checked his breathing.

"Daniel, wake up!" she said shaking him trying to get a response and getting none. Looking up for the phone her eyes went wide as she then noticed two men in black clothing and masks coming up to the back door reaching for the handle.

_Run!_

Cassie didn't waste a second, she jumped to her feet and made for the front door. She only got half way before coming to an abrupt halt in the hallway. There standing in her home was Kemp.

_You're only going to get one chance at this Cassie! Run! _

Running on pure adrenaline she rushed him and pushed with all her might to get past him but he grabbed her roughly by the arms and pushed her back towards the kitchen. As if by instinct she lashed out at him but didn't do any more than knock him back a step or two and in the process only angered him.

"Well that was not a very nice way to greet a friend now was it?" he said advancing on her.

"_You_ are not my friend now get out of my house" she replied with as much anger as she could muster, walking backwards to try and get away from him.

"Oh I don't think so" he said backing her into a corner and advancing into her personal space "I quite like it here"

_Get away from me, get away from me!_

Before she could do anything to prevent it he kissed her roughly. She whimpered in protest beneath him and struggled against him to get her hands free. Then with all her might shoved him away, pushing him into the adjacent counter.

"You, ungrateful Bitch!" he spat as he advanced on her again, but this time instead of kissing her he backhanded her across the face with enough force to knock her to the ground.

Cassie whimpered at the pain and the metallic taste at the corner of her mouth and she desperately tried to crawl away. But Kemp was too quick. She cried out as he grabbed her by her hair, pulling her to her feet and yanked her hard back against him.

"That was not very nice!" He seethed into her ear, causing her to cringe at his closeness. Her head was screaming at her to fight back but she was paralysed by fear as she looked over at the still form of Daniel.

_Wake up Daniel, please, wake up!_

He chuckled in her ear as he felt her start to shake against him which only made her cringe even more and she couldn't help the sob from escaping her.

"What do you want?" she said finding her voice and trying to pull away from him.

"This is not about what I want, it's about what I need my love" he whispered in her ear.

_You don't get to call me that!_

Channelling her anger she suddenly had a new found strength and, remembering what Tealc had taught her, she flung her head back to collide with Kemp's causing him to momentarily let her go. The instant she was free she bolted for the front door.

_I need to get out!_

The last thing she felt as she grabbed the door handle was the sudden excruciating pain of a bolt of electricity running through her body.

Then everything went black.

End of Chapter 38


	39. Kidnapped

Chapter 39

**KIDNAPPED**

_**Pain… It's all she can feel running through her whole body… Her vision is blurry, but she can make out where she is. She knows this place, she has been here before, a long time ago, in her other life, before the plague, before they came, before the Tauri, before SG1… **_

_**She is only a child here, no more than six or seven… She can't move, she's been held down, but not by a person, restraints on her arms and legs… She is not alone… there is a woman, on the other side of the room… she's not looking at her. Looking around she sees many strange things, things she could never have even imagined, her eyes settle on one item in the corner, she's seen it before, recognises it, but doesn't understand why. **_

_**The pain. Its still there, she whimpers in pain and the woman turns toward her. She advances on her and her eyes flash yellow…**_

Pain.

Cassie gasped as she was jolted back to consciousness. Disoriented she tried to sit up, but the surface that she was on was moving and she just became dizzy causing the already strong pain in her head to become worse. She brought her hand up to her face touching her throbbing cheek and eye where Kemp had struck her and moving up she could feel dried blood near her temple. Opening her eyes fully she tried to focus and looked around. She was in the back of a van, and it was moving. Shuffling to a sitting position, she grasped her head as a new wave of pain asserted itself.

_God my head hurts!_

It felt like her head was going to explode and she was having trouble focusing on any one thought. Around her, the boxes and equipment scattered around the floor of the van started to move as if it was coming alive. Gradually the stuff started to shake and move across the van floor, violently gaining momentum and before long was flying around uncontrollably. Cassie screamed as something flew past her head, missing her by millimetres and crashed into a crate just to her left.

_I know that crate…argh… My head!_

She heard voices from the front of the truck shouting at each other and the van swerved to one side throwing her about the back of the van. The van screeched to a halt and the two front doors opened and closed. Cassie could hear footsteps as they came around the back of the van.

She tried to pull herself as far away from the door as possible by scrambling into the far corner of the van before it opened. The door swung open to reveal Kemp. Scowling at her, he climbed into the back of the truck knocking things that were still flying around the van away with his hands.

"I wondered how long it would take you to wake up." He said grabbing Cassie's arms and pulling her up to face him. She tried to focus on him but the pain in her head was too great.

"What have you done to me?" she seethed at him through gritted teeth.

He chuckled lightly holding her up, her strength all going into trying to control the pain in her head. "It's not me that's doing this to you. It's that" He said looking over at the crate she recognised before. The other person who had been in the front of the van now came into view and opened the crate to reveal the machine that she and Daniel had been working on.

"You see I needed you to be around it as long as possible so I had my connections in Washington make sure that it remained at the SGC for as long as possible. But unfortunately that damn doctor got in the way and forced me to accelerate our plans to the next stage." He said stroking the side of her face. She struggled to get away but the extra pain that it caused her made her stop and she settled for watching the light in the roof of the van flicker on and off, anything to distract her from the repulsion of having Kemp so close to her.

"I'd say that over the last few weeks you have been getting a fair few headaches and that your telekinesis has been a little more active than usual. That's what this machine does you see, we figured out that it was one of the early pieces of technology that Nirrti used in her evolution experiments on your planet. It was one of the first prototypes that she used to accelerate the evolution process giving the recipients immense thought control and powerful energy. "

"Only problem is it takes a very long time to do so safely, probably why Nirrti abandoned the research of it. We had hoped that we could buy ourselves enough time with you and your stupid friends studying it to get you to a point where you could get us what we wanted but unfortunately that has not happened and we were forced to take extra measures. The pain you are experiencing is the machine working a lot quicker than it should." He said.

Cassie tried to process everything that Kemp had told her and frowned. "What is it you want?" she cried as another wave of pain ripped through her head and Kemp batted more flying equipment away from them.

"Atlantis." He stated with a smile that made Cassie want to throw up.

_What are you nuts?!?_

She stared at him in confusion "you're insane." She spat "How can I get you Atlantis?"

He chuckled again "with your new heightened senses and the power building up in your system you will be able to channel it into the city through the chair and fly the city without the need for ZPMs. That is of course if we get there before it kills you."

_He IS insane!_

"And how exactly are you going to get to Atlantis, it's a little too far to drive you know?" she said, not being able to stop the sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Through the front door, so to speak" he said as if it was obvious, batting something else away from them as it flew through the air. "Will you stop doing that!!" he added with irritation before calming down and continuing.

"Unfortunately, you being awake at the moment is causing a few technical problems as you're channelling your new found energy into flying objects and interfering with the van and we can't have that." He said smiling at her and the other man standing out side the back of the van suddenly came forward with a syringe fully of a milky substance. Cassie immediately started struggling and tried desperately to escape Kemp's hold on her but she couldn't and felt the prick of the needle in her arm.

"No" she protested but almost straight away found her self begin to float in to unconsciousness once again.

* * *

Paul waited for the doors of the elevator to open before he made his way down the hall to Daniel's lab. He had been on edge all day, and couldn't wait to catch his flight back to Colorado Springs. He had tried to ring earlier in the day but there had been no answer so when he arrived at the SGC his first stop was the lab. He turned the corner in to the lab and frown when he found it empty.

Wondering where they could be, he decided to head to Colonel Carter's lab. Arriving there he found that that was empty too. Uneasiness started to set in and he decided to make his way to the briefing room. On his way past the infirmary he heard Daniel's voice from within and immediately changed directions.

"Look, I've been hit with a Zat enough times to know that I'm fine. Now can we please get out there and find her" Daniel said jumping off the bed and wobbling slightly.

"Daniel, you're not alright, you need to rest." Sam said stepping forward and steadying him on his feet although she wasn't looking her best either.

"No, this is my fault" Daniel said through gritted teeth.

"We'll find her" Jack said trying to reassure his friend.

Paul made his way fully into the room until he was noticed by Daniel. "Paul…" he said uncomfortably.

"Hi, I was looking for you and… well… you weren't in your lab." he said addressing Daniel then to the group "What's going on?" The minute he said the last bit he knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Um…well…" Daniel said stumbling over his words.

"Major, we have a bit of a situation here, your report is going to have to wait." Jack said interrupting Daniel.

"Why, what's going on?" He asked again.

"Cassie has been taken" Jack said having no idea what effect the information would have on the man in front of him. Daniel and Sam physically winced at Jack's words and looked towards Major Davis for his reaction.

Paul felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Trying with all his might not to appear effected by what he had just been told, through gritted teeth, he asked forcefully "What do you mean 'taken'?"

Jack frowned at the Majors sudden change in composure, he had never seen him look so rattled "Don't you mean 'what do you mean, 'taken'? Sir'" Jack said regarding the younger man in front of him.

"Paul, what do you know about Lieutenant Kemp?" Sam asked stepping between him and the General. The last thing they needed to worry about now was explaining the relationship between Paul and Cassie to Jack.

Distracted by the question Paul looked at Sam and processed what she had said to him.

"He's nothing special really, just an errand runner mostly, he does some driving for some of the Generals… he used to be Maybourne's full time driver till the Colonel went AWOL." he said as if on autopilot.

"What contact did he have with Cassie when she was in Washington?" Jack asked forgetting about moments earlier.

"Um… I think General Hammond had him pick her up from the airport when she arrived and he had lunch with her one day…. Why do you want to know about him?"

"He's been stalking her, Paul" Daniel said placing his hand on the other man's shoulder and waiting for his reaction. Paul physically recoiled and he couldn't help the sick feeling in his stomach.

"He What!?! But she never…" finding his voice Paul blurted out.

"She didn't tell any of us until this morning when it escalated. Daniel took her home to get some stuff and he was attacked. When he awoke she was gone and there were… signs of a struggle." Sam said filling in all the details that she could 'When was the last time you spoke to her?"

"Um… not since late Friday night, I've been tied up with the Russians all weekend. I tried ringing the lab and her cell before I got my flight but there was no answer." He said.

Jack frowned at that and interrupted once again "See, now, why would _you _be doing something like that anyway?" He asked the Major.

"Jack, that's not important right now! Focus" Sam snapped startling the four men in front of her.

"That's 'Focus, Sir'" Jack said regretting it immediately.

"Don't push me, General" she said giving him 'the look' and Jack held his hands up in surrender "We need to find her" she stated quietly more to herself than to the others.

As if on que sirens and warning lights started blazing all around them and the intercom activated.

'General O'Neill to the Gate Room, General O'Neill to the Gate Room' came Walter's voice over the PA.

"What the Hell is going on now?" Jack said to no one in particular as they all took off for the Gate room.

* * *

Cassie became aware of voices around her as she came back from the blackness for the second time. Opening her eyes against the harsh lights of the room she realised that she was on the floor of the Gateroom at the end of the ramp.

_Oh this can't be good… _

Then the pain in her head started again and she winced at the noise in the room, the sirens were blazing and she could hear the telltale spinning of the Gate and the Kawoosh as the vortex formed. Looking up she saw the shimmering pool that formed the event horizon and for the first time in her life hated its very existence.

_Too Bright, Pain… _

Shielding her eyes with her hand she turned away from the bright light and looked around to see what was going on in front of her. Kemp was standing next to her holding a hand gun to her head and there were nearly a dozen men like the ones at her house, armed to the teeth, in the Gateroom all pointing weapons at the SGC airman. Looking up to the control room she saw Jack, Sam, Daniel and Tealc run in from the side and take in what was going on.

And then she saw Paul…

_Oh god, no…if anything happens to him because of me…_

"No" she whispered as her breathing suddenly became shallow and fast and the lights started to flicker. In the control room the equipment started going haywire and she saw sparks shot out of a circuit board on the wall that Sam was standing next to. Jack jumped forward and grabbed Sam around the waist pulling her away from the faulty equipment just in time as it exploded violently.

Upon seeing this Kemp also noticed the new arrivals. He grabbed Cassie by the hair once again, causing her to cry out at the added sensation of pain, and pulled her to her feet. The men that were obviously with him ran up the ramp, two carrying the machine, and jumped through the Gate and Kemp dragged her up the ramp.

"Stand down Lieutenant!" Came Jack's voice over the PA system but her captor just smirked and took a look around the Gateroom at the mayhem that Cassie was inflicting on the room.

"Not going to happen" Kemp spat, dragging Cassie further up the ramp, knowing that they had no control of what was going on around them.

Cassie knew that this was going to be her last chance to get free so doing her best to push the pain in her head away she pushed and struggled with all her might to get away but Kemp was too strong.

"No, let me go!" She screamed.

At hearing Cassie's scream Paul snapped, turned and ran for the Gateroom, but Kemp was to quick and pulled Cassie in to the event horizon before he got to the foot of the ramp. He was half way up the ramp with Daniel hot on his heels when the Gate shut down and everything suddenly became very still.

End of Chapter 39


	40. Atlantis

Chapter 40

**ATLANTIS**

When Cassie emerged through the Gate on the other side the Atlantis Gateroom was mayhem. The SGA team and been completely caught off guard by their sudden arrival and Kemp's men, who had preceded her and Kemp through the Gate, were restraining the unsuspecting Atlantis crew and taking control of the systems that controlled the corridors that lead to the Chair room.

Almost straight away the pain in Cassie's head started again and the surrounding lights and control panels in the Gateroom started flickering on and off. Looking around she noticed Dr Weir and Colonel Sheppard, who had yet to be restrained, making their way towards the stairs leading down to the level that she was on. They were stopped by two men wielding guns and both immediately put their hands up in surrender.

"Dr Weir, Colonel, I have no intention of hurting anyone in the city as long as no one tries to interfere with our work." Kemp said dragging Cassie towards the two. "Now, call off the troops and have everyone report to the Gateroom and no one gets hurt" he added pointing the gun at Cassie's head again.

"Who are you and how did you come through from Earth? ...and what are you doing to the lights?" Dr Weir said calmly stepping forward.

"Sorry" Cassie whined as she whimpered at the pain worsened in her head. Dr Weir looked confused at Cassie's statement but was distracted by Kemp who immediately turned the gun on Weir and Cassie started to struggle against him.

_No, leave her alone!_

"Just stay out of my way, don't try anything stupid, and you all get to live." He said as one of his men came up to him.

"We've found it" he whispered to Kemp then took aim at the two people in front of them allowing him to drag Cassie towards the Chair Room.

"No! Let me go!" Cassie shouted struggling again as she watched the lights all round her flicker on and off more prominently.

He dragged her down several corridors and into what she assumed was a lift as when the doors opened again the corridors were slightly different. Turning a corner they entered the Chair Room and as soon as they were through the doors they slid shut.

"We've isolated the door controls from the rest of the city, they shouldn't be able to access the room for some time." One of the men said.

"Excellent, Now Cassie, it's your turn" he said throwing her in to the chair in the middle of the room. The minute she was in it, the chair activated and she could suddenly feel every part of the city. The pain in her head suddenly intensified as the machine was placed next to her on the chair platform and she screamed.

Kemp stepped up to her and slapped her across the face to get her attention "Now, concentrate and access the flight controls and Star Drive."

"No!" she shouted back at him earning herself another slap. Whimpering at the new sensation of pain she tried to turn away from him but he grabbed her chin and forced her to face him.

"The sooner you do what you're told the sooner you can dump the excess energy in to the Star Drive, the lights will stop flickering and the pain will stop." He whispered in her ear making her shiver in revulsion.

"Get away from me!" she said through gritted teeth, fighting back the pain.

"Sir, I'm not getting very clear readings because all the computers are on the frits but I think the Gate just activated again" the man from before said distracting Kemp.

"Well, that will be your friends no doubt. No matter, by the time they get here it will be too late." Kemp said to Cassie.

_Oh, this is not good… _

* * *

The Gate once again started to dial and the men that were holding the Gateroom hostage suddenly retreated towards the Chair Room. Dr Weir was on her intercom before the Gate finished dialling and Sheppard was running for the nearest weapons room.

"Mackay, I need you in the control room NOW!" She said running up the stairs to try and get control of the Gate's shield but the Gate opened before she could get there.

As soon as the Gate formed several Marine teams came through with SG1, O'Neill and Major Davis behind them.

"Stand Down!" Elizabeth ordered the soldiers that had appeared with Sheppard and Ronon as soon as she saw the General.

"Elizabeth, I assume you know why we're here and… what's with the lights? Same thing happened at our end." Jack said as he met her half way up the stairs.

"The lights and all the systems for that matter have been on the frits since the last group came through. What ever they are doing they are screwing everything up!" came Mackay's irritated voice meeting the group at the bottom of the stairs, but not looking up at them, he was busy trying to gather information on his hand held.

"Its Cassie, she can't help it" Daniel said from the back of the group.

They all turned around in confusion to face him. "What do you mean?" Paul asked.

"Same thing happened a few weeks ago when I was with her. She lost control of her telekinesis when she was under heighten stress." Daniel explained to the group and Paul couldn't help looking away guiltily.

"I thought she wasn't supposed to be able to do anything like that anymore… and when did this happen and why didn't you tell us?" Jack said frowning at Daniel.

"Actually I knew too. But only recently!" Sam said wincing at the look that Jack gave her. "anyway she apparently retained some of her abilities from when she was attacked by Nirrti. I only found out a few weeks ago. She told me that Janet knew but was frightened that if others found out Cassie would be subjected to testing so she made Cassie promise not to tell anyone. " she said in a rush.

"Well no matter how she got them it's becoming a problem, she's affecting every system in the city including the shield" Mackay explained.

"Let me see" Sam said looking over Mackay's shoulder checking the readings on the portable computer.

"Where are they now?" Tealc asked

"They've barricaded themselves in the Chair Room." Ronon said.

"No telling what kind of damages she's doing in there" Mackay added irritably.

"Hey!" Jack said angrily "Leave her alone, the poor kid is probably scared out of her wits, you heard Daniel she has no control over it!"

"Who are they?" Sheppard asked as the group started to make its way down to the Chair Room followed by one of the marine units that had come through the Gate with SG1.

"Well, we don't know but the leader of this particular group goes by the name Kemp." Jack said.

"Okay how are we going to get into the Chair Room?" Weir said.

"Well as soon as the Gate opened for the second time they relinquished their control of everything but the Chair Room itself. With all the interference going on I should be able to take advantage of that and open the door locally once we get there. They will be having just as much trouble with the system as we are. In fact the closer we get the stronger the disturbances are… Oh crap!"

"What?" the rest of the group said at once.

"She must be in the chair. We'll be lucky if she doesn't blow the city up!" he said, horror written all over his face.

"What makes you say that?" Sam said again looking at what he was "That can't be right… she didn't produce anything like these levels of power before. There must be another factor involved."

"Like what?" Weir asked.

"I don't know… um…" Sam answered

"The machine" Daniel stated getting confused looks from the others so he clarified "the artefact that we have been studying for the past two months… they had it with them when they came through the Gate."

"The one that got stolen? You told me it was a weapon" Jack asked frowning.

"Yes! One that we weren't sure what would happen if powered up! That was what the translating was for!" Daniel said a little hysterically.

By now they could see the closed door leading to the Chair room. "Okay we need a plan" Stated Sheppard as they approached the door and Mackay and Sam went to work on getting it open.

"Well what ever you do, weapons fire from the Zats, or your weapon Ronon, are a strict no no." Mackay said from the door panel. "The amount of energy being emitted in that room will result in major damage if it comes into contact with that type of weapons fire."

"Okay, so what DO you suggest Mackay" Sheppard said irritated.

While this was going on Paul had moved away from the group to get away from all the talk. Ringing his hands in frustration he took some deep breaths to calm him self down and then scrubbed at his face to try and clear away all the thoughts clouding his mind. He needed to see her, now that she was alright. He needed to get her out of that room.

"You ok?" Daniel said coming over to him.

"No, I just… I feel so helpless" he said

"I know the feeling… we going to get her back" Daniel replied trying to reassure the man in front of him.

Jack came over to the two men holding a couple of hand guns. Handing one to Daniel he eyed up Paul "do you even know how to fire this?" he asked.

"Just because I spend my day behind a desk does _not_ mean I don't know how to use a gun." Paul replied stone faced.

"Maybe you should sit this one out" Jack suggested getting the feeling that under the younger man's stone faced expression there was some pretty strong feelings going on. Ones he pretty sure he wasn't going to like.

"Not a chance" Paul replied taking the gun from the General and checking to see if it was loaded.

"Ok" Jack said but still frowned.

"GO TO HELL!" the group out side the door suddenly heard Cassie scream from in side the Chair Room.

Paul flinched and gritted his teeth "We need to get in there. Now." He said heading back to the door leaving Jack staring at Daniel in confusion.

"Got it!" Mackay exclaimed and the door slid open taking the occupants by surprise.

Tealc and Ronon were the first to move inside the room followed by Sheppard and his team and SG1.

Cassie swirled around in the chair to see Paul come through the door and couldn't help the small smile from flickering on her face. Kemp immediately moved on to the chair platform once again holding the gun to Cassie's head.

Suddenly people were shouting at each other and guns were being pointed at each other while SG1 and the Atlantis team members took up positions around the room and Paul made his way around so that he was facing her. The sound was deafening in her already pain filled head. Cassie looked around the room trying to take it all in over her pounding head.

Soon everything seemed to come to a stand off and everyone, including his own men, were focused on Kemp and what his next move would be.

Unfortunately Kemp's concentration was on what Cassie was focusing on and she had returned to look at Paul in front of her. A wicked smile crept over his features and he chuckled lightly as he placed his hand on the back of the chair and leaned in towards Cassie, invading her personal space. Paul twitched slightly and tightened his grip on the gun he had pointed at Kemp.

Kemp chuckled again this time close to Cassie's ear making her squirm in the chair before speaking just above a whisper so that everyone would hear.

"Well now look who we have here, I've just found your motivation to help me…

Fire the Star Drive right now or I will kill him" he said turning the gun he had aimed at her head onto Paul. Cassie visibly faulted turning to look at Kemp and back at Paul.

_No!_

That got everyone's attention, including Kemp's men, and they all turned to watch what was happening between Cassie and the two men… all except one person

…Sheppard. He had moved around so that he was slightly behind and to the side of Paul, in her direct line of vision and he was staring straight at Cassie.

_What the…_

He continued to look directly at her until he knew he had her attention. Once he knew he had his eyes flickered down to the gel hand control pad on the chair and then back up at her.

_I don't understand…_

She shook her head with the slightest of movements, not only trying to convey her confusion without alerting Kemp, but also to minimise the extra pain that the movement would inflict on her.

Fortunately Kemp was still far more interested in the other people's reaction to the stand off in front of them.

"What, you didn't think that today was the first time I'd been near your house, did you." He added chuckling still not aware that Cassie's attention was slightly diverted.

Again Sheppard's eyes flickered down to the hand controls and then back up to her. Her eyes widened and she blinked in understanding.

_Right, ok, use the chair, but how?_

"I wonder how many people here know what you have been getting up to with a certain…" Kemp continued, oblivious. This caught Cassie's attention and she broke eye contact with Sheppard and looked at Kemp with horror but was quickly distracted by Paul who spoke for the first time since entering the room.

"Don't do it sweetheart, don't listen to him" Paul interpreted calmly "it's going to be ok" Cassie couldn't help but tear up at the reassuring look that Paul tried to give her.

Kemp laughed out loud this time "not for you, it's not" he said to Paul.

_NoNoNONONONONO! I need to find something, buy time….._

"Ok, OK! I… I'll do it" Cassie whispered as her tears started to spill down her face.

"Cassie, No!" Paul said again but Cassie had already placed her hands in the hand controls and diverted her eyes back to Shepherd who lowered his head ever so slightly in understanding of what she was doing.

She moved her hands in the control panel and tried to concentrate on what the chair was telling her. What she found was incredible and using the chair was actually helping to subdue some of the pain in her head. She found that she had complete access to the city's systems and she tried to channel as much of her energy in to the ZPM running the shield with out letting on that she was busy depleting her energy supplies and not searching for the Star Drive.

_Hang on a minute what was that about the chair's diagnostic… circuits leading to… where his hand is… _

"Clock's ticking Princess…" Kemp said cocking the gun pointed at Paul

"Cassie, don't" Paul said again not taking his eyes off her but she ignored him and turned to look at Kemp.

_Just need to isolate a few pathways so I don't short out the whole city and… _

"Hang on a minute will you, this is a little more complicated than just flicking a switch!" she snapped sarcastically at Kemp. This only angered the lieutenant who sneered at her.

"Times up Princess" he seethed before he brought the gun in his hand up slightly and pulled the trigger.

Cassie heard the gun fire and heard someone scream and then everything seemed to freeze as all she could see was the bullet heading for her love…

…then it stopped.

Suddenly the lights and equipment in the room stopped flickering and there was silence in the room for the first time since their arrival as all the occupants looked between the bullet, Paul and Cassie.

It took her a split second to realise that it was, in fact, her holding the bullet in place.

Cassie's breathing became very shallow as she watched the bullet that was hovering midair about a foot from Paul's heart. She could feel the familiar pull in the back of her mind holding it in place and the force of the bullet's original velocity straining against her hold.

Her eyes went wide as she struggled to keep a hold of the bullet and let out a shuddered breath.

No one moved, too shocked at what they were seeing until Sheppard, recovering before the others, jumped forward, grabbed Paul and pulled him out of the bullet's line of fire and at the same time he shouted out to her.

"Cassie, NOW!"

Cassie immediately broke control over the bullet, which continued on to lodge itself in the wall behind where Paul had been standing as if nothing had happened. Before Kemp could react, she refocused placing her hands back in the chair controls and flexed her fingers slightly. The action sent a bolt of electricity up the pathways she had isolated in the back of the chair earlier and up into Kemp's arm that was still resting on top of it. He stiffened suddenly, gasped in pain and began to fall backwards.

Cassie was up and out of the chair and in Paul's arms before Kemp hit the floor unconscious at Jack's feet.

"Its ok, you're alright" he said quietly to her over and over again as he crushed her to him, himself still in shock of the events over past few minutes. She let out a sob of relief and fighting her sudden exhaustion she clutched as tightly as she could to him.

"I thought I was going to loose you, I can't ever loose you!" She sobbed into his shoulder, both completely forgetting that there were others in the room. She pulled away from him slightly just far enough away so that they could look at each other in the eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, thanks to you" he said and then as an after thought added with a smile "Happy Birthday! You were right! Next year we're staying in" Cassie let out a shaky laugh and then moved forward and kissed him hard.

Some one behind them cleared their throat to get the couple's attention and Paul pulled away from her but instead of turning around Cassie just placed her head on his chest and sagged against him in exhaustion.

"Cassie?" he asked frowning and again tightened his grip on her but she didn't respond and her own grip became rather slack as she succumbed to the darkness wanting to take her.

End of chapter 40

* * *

**Authors Note,**

**Ok! So I thought I would just add a little Authors note, The scene in the Chair Room with Cassie & Paul facing each other was an image I woke up with VERY early one morning five years ago and how Out of the Blue came to be. I don't tend to dream much but when I do I always seem to remember the emotions very strongly afterwards. Some times that can be a hinderance, especially after a bad one as they leave me very unnerved for days afterwards, but this one was a feeling of warmth and love. I felt it so strongly that I felt the need to write about. (something I've never done before) I hope that I have conveyed to my wonderful readers the emotions and feelings as I felt them.**

**Two more chapter to go after this one!**

**Happy Reading!**

**Mya**


	41. Couldn't Have Picked a Nice Young Airman

**Chapter 41**

**YOU COULDN'T HAVE PICKED A NICE YOUNG AIRMAN?**

Cassie woke to a soothing hand running up and down her arm. She tried to shift from being on her back to her side but groaned at the ache running through her entire body. She slowly opened her eyes to see Paul sitting by the bed. Taking a deep breath she looked around trying to get her bearings.

"Where am I?" she whispered trying to sit up.

Paul leapt up from his chair to help her and called over his shoulder "She's awake!" before returning his attention to Cassie "Hey, take it easy, you're in the Atlantis infirmary."

"What happened?" She asked blinking her eyes open and closed a few times to try and clear her vision.

"You collapsed from exhaustion" he said brushing away the hair from her face.

"How long have I been asleep?" she said looking around the room for a window.

"About a day" he answered.

"Oh, Sorry" she said frowning.

"You have nothing to be sorry about" he said taking hold of her hands just as Dr Beckett came around the corner.

"Ah, Lassie, back with us, I see. How are you feeling?" he said with a warm smile coming up to the side of her bed.

"Um… a bit tired I guess and sore" she said, wincing as she brought her hand up to the side of her face and pushed gently.

"Not surprising dear, that was some ordeal you went through." The Doctor said "I'll get you some pain killers for your aches and leave you be for now if there isn't anything major bothering you at the moment, I'll check on you in a little while. Just yell if you need anything"

"Thanks that would be good, I could do with some water actually, I'm parched" she said, but before he could reply a cup from the bed side table floated into her hand.

_What the…_

"How did you do that?" an astonished Paul said next to her.

"I… don't know. I just thought it and it came to me… usually I have to put a lot more effort behind doing something like that." She said eyeing up the contents of the cup before taking a sip.

"Your telekinesis is probably a little bit heightened at the moment, don't worry, I think it will settle down once you have used up the residual energy left in your system." Dr Beckett explained as he got the paracetamol for her "We'll do some tests later on to get a better idea of what's going on in there" he added gently tapping the side of her head and then handing her the pills. "It's nothing to be alarmed about."

Nodding in understanding Cassie thanked him and he returned to his other duties leaving the two of them alone.

"So, be honest, how bad do I look?" she asked as she touched her swollen face again. Paul pulled her hand away and replaced it with his.

"You look beautiful" he said looking her in the eye and she couldn't help a small smile gracing her lips.

_Liar!_

"I said be honest" she said through her smile.

He sighed before admitting "You're a little black and blue" and then added a little darkly "but don't worry, Tealc and Ronon returned the favour".

Cassie took a deep breath, let it out slowly and looked away from Paul, opting for her hands in her lap, and couldn't help the tears that formed in the eyes. She closed them in a vein effort to stop the tears but some escaped and trailed down her face. Paul placed his fingers under her chin and gently pulled her face back up to look at him.

"Hey, it's ok, sweetheart, I promise you he will _**never**_ hurt you again, you're going to be alright" He said. Cassie shuffled over to one side of the bed so that he could sit with her and he pulled her into his arms. As soon as she was in his embrace she let her defences down and started to sob into his chest.

"I tried so hard to get away… but he was too strong… and there was so much pain… and I thought I was going to loose you… I can't ever loose you." She managed to get out between sobs.

"Shh… its ok, he won't ever hurt you again and because of you I'm not going anywhere, I promise… " he soothed as he rubbed small circles around her back and hugged her close before adding "… you saved my life."

"It just happened… one second I heard the gun go off and a scream and the next I was holding on to the bullet… I didn't even realise I was doing it." She sobbed reliving the order of events in her head.

"_You_ screamed" he added.

"Really?" she said in disbelief "I could have sworn it was someone else". Paul just nodded his head.

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation she snuggled further in to his embrace. She lifted her head to look at him.

"I love you" she whispered.

"I love you too" he answered pushing her hair behind her ear, then leaning in he kissed her softly so as not to cause her injured face any more pain.

Unbeknownst to them, just out of sight, someone was watching them.

* * *

Cassie had been awake most of the day now and had just finished been poked and prodded by Dr Beckett and Dr Mackay. She had spent the better part of an hour lifting things with her mind while they tested for EM fields and abnormal brain activity. She hadn't minded though as they were both very nice about it, even Mackay who was ecstatic over the new power levels of the ZPM that Cassie had dumped her excess power into , and hadn't pushed her to do anything she didn't want to do. They even shared with her what was going on in her brain which was something she had always wondered about.

Cassie had sent Paul to get something to eat before the testing started after she realised that he hadn't done so since she had collapsed. So now she was getting kind of bored. A little while ago she had seen a couple of people go through a door on the opposite side of the infirmary that appeared to lead out to a balcony and she really wanted to check it out. Deciding to see how well her legs would work, since she hadn't been allowed to stand or do anything deemed to be physically taxing since she had woken, she threw off the blanket and sheets and twisted her self so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Then easing herself down to the floor she slowly put her weight on to her unsteady feet and held on to the edge of the infirmary bed.

Once she was satisfied that she was stable she let go and took a tentative step forward only to stumble. She was stopped from falling by Jack who rushed forward from the infirmary doorway and caught her around the waist.

"Hey Kiddo, and where do you think you're going?" he said steadying her and turning her back to the bed.

"No! No bed! I'm sick of the bed!" She whined.

"No! We need to have a little chat" he said shaking his head and frowning at the thought of having to have one of _**those**_ talks.

_Oh crap!_

"I'll make you a deal, you help me walk over to the door so that I can go out on the balcony and you can talk as much as you like" Cassie said with a smile, turning herself back around to face the door.

Jack seemed to think about this for a moment then sighed "If I don't you're going to make this difficult aren't you?"

She smiled even brighter before nodding in the affirmative. He sighed again then helped her turn around and they started walking slowly towards the door.

"Where's Daniel and Sam?" she asked

"Oh you know them, Daniel's had his nose stuck in the Ancient data base since he got here and Carter is poking around some piece of equipment with Mackay in his lab." He answered sarcastically.

On reaching the door Jack swiped his hand over the door panel and it slid open revealing the most incredible sight Cassie had ever seen.

"Oh, Wow!" she said slowly to her self as Jack helped her through the door way and over to the balcony railing. "Now _this _was worth the mind splitting pain" she added as she took in the sight of Atlantis in all her glory.

_It's beautiful!_

"Yeah she's pretty impressive huh?" Jack said watching her as she looked around. She nodded in awe as she looked over the railing to see how high up they were. He paused not really knowing where to start and in true 'Jack' style just decided to launch right in there.

"So… Davis huh?" he said.

…_And here we go!_

She took her eyes from the sight around her to focus back on Jack "Yep!" she said with a straight face.

"Hmm" he answered. He took a deep breath, blowing out his cheeks and let it go quickly. "You're really not going to make this easy for me are you?" he asked.

_Probably not… _

"Well, I guess that depends on what you want to know" she said turning around so that her back was leaning against the railing.

'What do I want to know?" he said out loud but to himself, then to her he said "Well, I guess I want to know where we went wrong, cause I'm pretty sure we agreed that there would be no Air force or Military relationships."

_Oh, how did I know this was going to come up…_

Cassie interrupted him before he could continue "No, _**you**_ said that, _**I **_didn't agree to anything… and what did you expect… I don't spend anytime anywhere else other than on the Base."

"You didn't have to do that you know, we would have supported you in anything that you choose to do."

"I'm not complaining about it… I love my job, just as much as you and the others do but let's face it, it doesn't really help on the relationship side of things, not with civilians anyway." She said.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the two of them as they stood there. Jack scrunched his face up and let out another breath. Cassie sighed as well.

"I knew something was going on, you know?" he said also turning around and leaning back against the railing next to her.

"Yeah?" she asked

"Yep! Just didn't in a million years think that it was _Davis_." He said scrunching up his face, then turning more to look at Cassie he whined "_Davis?!?_ ...you couldn't have picked a nice young insignificant Airman that would be scared to death of me and whose disappearance would go unnoticed?"

"What can I say? I think big!" she quipped.

"No kidding, Kiddo" he retorted settling back against the railing.

"Hey, I learnt from the best" she threw back with a smile, nudging his shoulder. "And please, stop calling me that" she added screwing up her face.

He smiled at her half arsed attempt at an irritated look. "Never. Going. To. Happen"

This time they fell into a comfortable silence and just listened to the waves far below them for a few minutes before Jack spoke up again.

"So… how serious is it?"

"It's very serious" she said and waited for his reaction.

"And by 'very serious' you mean…?"

"_**Very**_ serious" she reiterated before asking "Surely you've asked Daniel and Sam about this already, I was asleep for like a day?"

"Yeah, they… filled me in, just wanted get your side of the story before I go and… shoot him, so to speak" he said.

_Oh! Don't you even think about it!!!_

"You will do no such thing! You leave him alone! I need him in one piece, thank you very much!" she said turning to face him straight on and giving him her best 'Janet' look.

He gave her a sideward glance and sighed in defeat. "Carter was right, you _**have**_ gone and grown up on us… when did that happen?"

"Maybe, but I still need you guys… case in point, today…" she trailed off thinking again over the last couple of days.

"Yes, today… how you feeling anyway?" he said looking her over critically.

"I'm ok, bit sore, probably dumped a little _too _much of my energy in to the ZPM but I'll be fine… I got a few new tricks up my sleeve so that's cool… and talking to the City whilst I was in the chair… not many girls get to say they've done _that" _she summarised with a smile.

"Yeah she's pretty cool, huh?" He quipped tilting his head to the side and she nodded letting a little giggle escape, then she sobered a little.

"What's going to happen to Kemp? Paul wouldn't tell me much of what happened after I collapsed but he did say that Tealc and Ronon wailed on him a bit." She asked.

"We've been questioning him but he isn't being particularly cooperative. One of his goons however spilled what he knew. Looks like Maybourne's extra curricular activities wore off on Kemp."

"NID?!?" she asked surprised "so the whole stalking thing was a cover? I mean I knew what his plan was because he told me, but he never mentioned a third party." She explained.

"Well who knows what his true motives were, the guy's a Nutter!" Jack said matter of factually.

"You got that right" she agreed. "Still, knowing that it wasn't just about the stalking makes me feel a little less wigged out about the whole thing" she confessed.

"Good, what ever happens, you will never have to worry about him again. I intend to find him a very deep hole to fall in." Jack said puffing his chest out.

"My hero!" she exclaimed with a smile.

The door that they had come through to gain access to the balcony slid open to reveal a slightly stressed looking Paul, who upon seeing Cassie, visibly relaxed and stepped through the door.

"Davis" Jack stated stone faced.

_Don't start!_

"Jack…" Cassie warned, throwing him 'the look' again. He sighed beside her and pushed off the railing to move toward the Major.

"Fine, fine… but so help me, if you…" he said towards the younger man in front of him

"I know, Sir" Paul said looking directly at the General hoping that he understood that he was sincere.

Jack nodded slightly looking down at his shoes then back to Cassie "Ok… ok…catch up with you later" he said before retreating back through the door in to the infirmary.

Both Cassie and Paul waited until the door had closed again before they both relaxed and Paul came up to join Cassie by the railing, pulling her into his arms.

"So, do I get to live?" he asked and she smiled back at him.

"Yeah, you do… for now" she said moving in closer to kiss him but he moved his head away at the last second and smiled at her.

"What?" she asked with a half smile.

"I love you" he said simply

"I know, I love you too" she whispered as she moved in again and this time he kissed her.

_Oh yes! This is much better!_

End of Chapter 41

* * *

One more Chapter to go lovely readers! hope you enjoy! Happy Reading! Mya.


	42. Epilogue: Halo

Chapter 42

**Epilogue: HALO**

_**One Year Later….**_

Cassandra Frasier was bored!

Not for the first time, she was sitting on a bed, feet dangling over the edge, in the SGC infirmary waiting for her bi-monthly check up results…well… they used to be bi-monthly. Her current situation meant that they were now monthly, something that Cassie was not in the least bit pleased about.

_Come on what is taking so long??? The longer the wait the worse the outcome… please don't be a bad outcome….Please…_

Cassie jumped off the bed in favour of releasing her nervous energy by pacing back and forth in the small space between the beds. From the door way she heard someone clear their throat and she spun around to see Paul leaning against the door frame. Cassie's face suddenly changed from a frown to a full smile as she ran to him. He caught her in a hug and held her tightly to his body.

"You're back!" she exclaimed not letting him go.

"Hey you, miss me?" he said in return.

"Always" she said pulling away just far enough to kiss him "It fills like you've been gone forever!"

"I know a week never seemed like along time until I found you" he said kissing her again.

"Has it only been a week since I was in Washington?" she moaned dropping her head to his shoulder and getting comfy in his embrace "feels like a month!"

_God this long distance thing sucks!_

Paul was still living in Washington and making his fortnightly trips to the SGC. On the weeks that he was not on the Base Cassie would fly up to Washington for the weekend. This arrangement had been going on for the last year and more and more they were both getting fed up with it.

_I want him here with me _

"Mmm…" he murmured in agreement and then frowned asking "What are you still doing in here, you should have been finished ages ago, is everything alright?"

"I don't know… the doctor has been gone for ages getting my test results…" she trailed off, worry evident on her voice.

Paul sensed her fear and held her closer to him "I'm sure everything is fine"

_No! It's not! Do you know what day it is tomorrow? Something's wrong I just know it…_

Cassie suddenly pulled away from him and started to pace again "How can you say that? How can you be so calm? Tomorrow's the 18th!" she said suddenly.

Paul just leaned against one of the beds she was pacing in front of and watched her go back and forth. "you need to relax…" he said

"Relax?!? He's been gone for like an hour! How can that possibly be good?" she screeched throwing her hands in the air.

"Cassie…you're being completely…" he said patiently but couldn't get the rest of his sentence out before Cassie interrupted.

"What? Irrational, hormonal, crazy…" she ranted getting louder with each word before sighing and slumping against the opposite bed in exhaustion "I know, I can't help it… it's just with tomorrow being my birthday… and my track record with those… this could be sooo much worse than being kidnapped…. " she trailed off.

"…Sorry for yelling" she whispered miserably as her eyes misted over.

Paul reached over the gap between them and grabbing her hand pulling her to him once again "it's ok, you're allowed to be" he said placing his hand on her slightly emphasized lower stomach.

Cassie laid her head against his shoulder once again and closed her eyes relishing in having him back again. The doctor walked back in to the room to find the two just standing there in silence and cleared his throat to get their attention.

Cassie whipped round to face him with a scowl "where the hell have you been?" she growled through gritted teeth startling the doctor. Paul placed a hand on her upper arm and gave her a look that plainly said 'you're doing it again'.

"Sorry" Cassie sighed again.

The doctor just chuckled to himself "it's alright, mood swings are part of the deal I'm afraid." He said with a knowing smile.

"Well that sounds positive" Paul said with encouragement, looking at Cassie. She just threw him a dirty look and returned her attention to the doctor who was still chuckling to himself.

"Come on doc, I'm dying here, what were the test results? What's wrong?" she pleaded.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong, everything is progressing as it should be" the Doctor said handing her the file he was carrying with a smile. Cassie read through the information in front of her carefully.

"But…"

"Cassandra, you both are in perfect health" The doctor stated.

"We are?" she said still not believing the test results.

"You are" the Doctor repeated "just keep doing what you have been doing and make sure that you are getting lots of rest… oh and you might want to start telling people, very soon they are going to start to notice" he added.

Cassie beamed, suddenly squealed in delight and once again threw herself into Paul's arms. He pulled her to him tightly and lifted her off the ground, inwardly sighing in relief.

"Now can we tell everyone?" He whispered in her ear and she nodded against him. Paul had wanted to yell it from the top of the mountain when Cassie had told him eight weeks ago that she thought she might be pregnant, but Cassie had made him promise that he wouldn't tell a soul until she was certain that everything was ok and that she had past the twelve week stage.

"Tomorrow, at the BBQ, we'll tell them" she whispered back. Paul pulled back slightly and frowned.

"What BBQ?" he asked "I thought we were staying in tomorrow… something about you not risking getting in a car on your birthday?"

"Oh, well that was the plan but Jack had other ideas and when I tried to decline using that excuse, I was told in no uncertain terms that if we didn't go we would regret it for the rest of our lives… then he said something about making sure you would be transferred to Russia if I didn't comply and then said something about being built like a 'Hummer?'" She rambled off. Paul only looked more confused.

"What?" he said shaking his head trying to make sense of what she had said.

"Well the gist of it is we are going to Jack's for a BBQ." She stated.

"Umm…. I'm confused, what does a Hummer have to do with it?" he said.

"Apparently it's some kind of car, supposed to be built really solidly… or something like that."

"I know what a Hummer _is, _but what does that have to do with…" He asked.

"I don't know! The point is if we don't go there will be trouble so… we're going weather we like it or not" she grumbled.

"Oh… ok" he said completely baffled, but he had decided a long time ago that understanding the General was sometimes just pointless and that it was best just to go with the flow.

* * *

When they arrived at Jack's the next day it looked like everyone was already there. In the last year SG1 had evolved and had welcomed two new members. Colonel Cameron Mitchell was now the leader of SG1 giving Sam more time to spend with her experiments between missions. He was a nice, easy going kind of guy with a great sense of humour and Cassie got along with him quite well.

Then there was Vala. About six months ago Daniel had found himself attached to the rather eccentric and vibrant Con woman. The technology that had been holding them together had worn off some time ago but Vala seemed intent on sticking around and was now unofficially part of the team. Cassie instantly liked her, to Daniel's dislike, and they had become instant friends. Personally Cassie thought that Daniel's dislike of her was his way of hiding his true feelings for her. She could tell that he cared deeply for the colourful brunette, she just had to find a way of tricking Daniel into admitting it.

_It's about time he finds someone to be happy with…_

Paul jumped out of the driver's seat and ran round to help Cassie out the car. "You know I can still get out of the car by myself." Cassie said as Paul closed her door and proceeded to open the back door to get the dessert and Cassie's cardigan off the back seat.

He simply grinned at her and once he had possession of the dessert closed the car door, locked it and pocketed the keys.

She slipped her cardigan on and did up the tie in front to hide her small bump "And don't think that this means you now get to do all the driving Mister." She added frowning at his grin but really struggling to stop one from forming on her own lips. He just kept grinning at her and grabbed her hand.

"You are enjoying this far too much" she said mumbling under her breath but he heard her.

"Now that you will finally let me tell everyone, I am going to enjoy every minute that the woman I love is carry my child." He said kissing her forehead before starting to pull her towards the front door. She just smiled and allowed him to lead the way. He suddenly stopped and turned back around to her, he hesitated for a moment as if to say something but seemed to think better of it and then turned and started walking away from the house and into the surrounding forest leaving the dessert on the hood of the car.

"Um… Paul, where are we going?" Cassie asked completely confused but allowed her self to be pulled along. "The party is that way" she added throwing her head back in the direction of the cabin behind them.

Once they were a little way in but could not be seen by any passers by he came to a stop, turned to face Cassie and took her other hand in his. Cassie looked up at him with confusion, trying to gage what he was thinking. But he wasn't looking at her but his shoes.

"What is it?" she asked with concern.

Paul took a deep breath and finally looked at her with a small nervous smile and releasing one of her hands, brought his hand up to caress the side of her face.

"I love you… I have never loved anyone more in my life than I do you. You have brought a completion to my life that I didn't know I needed and…" he looked away as if to compose him self before he looked at her again "…and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you."

Cassie stood motionless in front of him and could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest as his words brought tears to her eyes. He looked down again but this time seemed to be searching for something. Cassie gasped quietly as he found what he was looking for and produced a small box.

"I have had this ever since May had her accident in Colorado Springs. She brought it with her to give to me in the hope that it would knock some sense into me." he said smiling at the memory. "I've been trying ever since to come up with the right way to give it to you, to ask…" he looked back up and into her eyes.

Cassie couldn't help the tear that escaped and ran down her cheek. She brushed it away quickly with her free hand.

Paul took a deep breath and opening the small box in his hand he asked "Cassandra Frasier, will you marry me?"

_OhGodohgodohgod_

Cassie opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a sob and more tears running down her face as she looked down at the box to find a beautiful gold ring with a black sapphire in the centre surrounded by small diamonds. She looked up with wide eyes to look at a still very nervous looking Paul. She tried for words again but not succeeding she settled for nodding her head and smiling through her tears in response.

The change in Paul's face was instantaneous. He had a huge smile on his face and reached forward, wrapped his arms around Cassie, lifted her into the air, spun her around and kissed her. She immediately wrapped her own arms around his neck and returned the kiss with everything she had.

Both needing to come up for air, they parted only far enough away that Paul could take the ring out of it's box and slide it into it's new home on Cassie's left ring finger and then kissed her hand.

"I love you" he whispered as he rested his brow against hers.

"I love you too" she responded and then sighed in contentment. She shifted her head a little to get a better look at the ring on her finger and added "It's beautiful… it looks old." She admired as Paul pulled her to his chest to embrace her.

"It was May's engagement ring, I remember when I was young I told her that it was beautiful and she said that when I met the right girl she would give to me to give to her." Paul explained and Cassie smiled at the thought of the old woman.

"She gave it to you a year ago?" Cassie asked, to which Paul nodded.

"I've thought of a million times to ask you, but none ever seemed like the right time…" he trailed off.

"You picked the perfect time" she said smiling and snuggling into his chest.

After several minutes more of just standing there together they finally made a move back towards the house. Paul was holding Cassie securely to his side as they made their way back to the car to pick up the dessert and moved up the steps to the front porch of Jack's cabin.

The door swung open before they had even had a chance to knock to reveal Jack and Sam standing in the doorway.

"Where have you been?" Sam started up.

"Carter, knock it off! They haven't even made it in the door yet!" Jack scolded before ushering her out the way to allow Cassie and Paul in the door.

"Hey Kids!" he said as they passed by and he closed the door behind them. "Get a bit lost did we?" he asked. "I thought that it would have been pretty straight forward walking from the car to the front door."

"And how would you know that we didn't come straight from the car to the front door? Weren't waiting by the window were we?" Cassie threw over her shoulder at Jack with a knowing smile.

"Not me! Her!" he said pointing at Sam who gasped in horror.

"_You_ were there too!" she exclaimed glaring at the General.

"That's 'You were there too, _Sir_'" he replied, then seeing the look he got in return, knew he was going to pay for that later.

Sam threw one last dirty look at Jack and then turned her attention to Cassie.

"Happy Birthday, Honey!" she exclaimed grabbing Cassie away from Paul and hugging her tightly. Then letting her go and taking a look at her with a frown "are you alright? You look like you've been crying"

Cassie smiled and said "Couldn't be happier."

"Sure?"

"Positive!" she reaffirmed.

Sam looked between the two of them and satisfied with Cassie's answer ushered them through the house and out on to the back porch where everyone else was located. As soon as they stepped out they were greeted with hellos and, in Cassie's case, more Happy Birthdays.

She was showered in hugs as she made the rounds and then found a seat that she could collapse in to. Jack appeared with a couple of drinks for Cam and Daniel and asked what the new arrivals would like.

"I'll just have a lemonade, thanks" Cassie said and looked to Paul to see what he wanted before adding "I'll drive" to him.

Paul gave her a wearily look before giving in and requesting a beer.

"That's the spirit, Paul! Now Cassie I'm sure that you could have one slightly more exciting drink, it's going to be ages before you leave and it is after all your birthday" Jack quipped.

"No, lemonade's fine." She said a little too firmly.

"Oookaayyy!" Jack said a little bit put out before heading back inside.

Once he had returned with their drinks they all sat around the porch with their beverages and chatted and joked about all sorts until Vala, who had managed to find her self sitting on Daniel's lap, started chomping at the bit to give presents.

Daniel rolled his eyes at the brunette but didn't seem to be minding her position too much.

Jack got a rather odd gleam in his eye "What a brilliant idea Vala!" he exclaimed glancing at Sam who disappeared in to the house followed by Tealc and Cam.

_What's going on?_

They returned a few minutes later carrying numerous gifts. They placed them on the table in front of Cassie.

"I thought I told you guys 'no gifts!'" she said looking at the packages in front of her.

"Cassandra, I have yet to meet a woman who _doesn't like gifts! _Even you!"Vala said matter of factually as she handed one to her. "This is from Daniel and I. Don't worry I picked it out, not him." She added with a smile.

Cassie took the offered gift with a smile and tore in to the wrapping. Inside was a jewellery box with a lovely gold bracelet.

"It's beautiful!" she said taking it out of the box and admiring it.

"Here, let me" Paul said from next to her and taking the bracelet looped it round her right wrist and fastened it.

"Thankyou!" she said once again looking at it on her wrist.

"You're welcome" Daniel said from his seat. Cassie looked up at him and couldn't help notice that he was absently rubbing circles on Vala's back.

_Yay! _

"Ok! Next!" Cam piped up before giving Tealc a light punch on the arm.

Tealc stepped forward and placed another box in front of Cassie. "This one is from Colonel Mitchell and I" he stated. She smiled at the large man before working on the paper surrounding the gift. This time she found a new touch iPod in a brilliant yellow colour.

"Cool! Thanks guys" she exclaimed beaming at them.

Sam came and sat down next to Cassie and handed her a bag "This is from the General and I, this is the first part." She said with a smile. Cassie opened the bag and found a stunning dress. It was a deep purple colour and had tiny beads sown into the empire line bodice and around the hem of the skirt. It was knee length and would show off her legs rather nicely.

Sam leaned over and whispered in Cassie's ear so no one else could hear "thought you could wear it to the Xmas Party next week with _those _shoes" she said referring to the shoes that she and Cassie had bought a year ago and had yet to worn.

Cassie smirked at Sam and secretly hoped that the dress would fit with her current condition.

"Sounds like a plan" she whispered back before saying louder "I love it! Thank you!"

"Now for part two!" Jack said stepping forward with two envelopes in his hand. But instead of giving them to Cassie he handed one of them to Paul. Cassie turned towards her fiancé who was looking at the envelope with a frown.

"Sir?" he questioned.

"Just open it!" the General bristled.

Getting a better look at the envelope Cassie frowned too, it was rather official looking. Paul opened it and pulled out the contents and silently read what it said before looking up in surprise.

"I…"

"Congratulations, _Colonel._" Jack said extending his hand to Paul.

Paul snapped out of his trance, handed the letter to Cassie and stood to shake Jack's hand. Cassie not believing her ears quickly opened the letter and skimmed over the contents.

_He got a… promotion! He got a PROMOTION!_

"Thank you Sir, thank you very much!" he said.

"Hang on! There's more!" Sam said practically bouncing up and down in her seat and urging Jack to hand over the other envelope. Finally she got fed up waiting for him and snatched the envelope out of his hand and handed it to Paul, before seating down and taking the letter still clutched in Cassie's hand so that she was once again focused on Paul who was now reading a different letter.

"It's…" was all he could say completely blown away with what he was reading. He looked at her with surprise and awe, and again, handed the piece of paper to Cassie.

Cassie barely got past the words 'transfer' and 'SGC' before she gasped and her eyes started watering up.

_I get to… I get to keep him here!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

She let out a little shriek and threw her arms around Paul whispering a 'congratulations' in his ear. She then let go of him and threw her self in to Jack's arms.

"Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!" she exclaimed tears pouring down her face.

"Well…!" Vala prompted "what's going on! I'm confused!"

"No more long distance!" Cassie exclaimed stepping back from Jack and returning to Paul, this time sitting on his lap rather than on her chair. He immediately hugged her close and Cassie snuggled into his chest.

"Ohh! So that's what all the secrets have been about for the last couple of weeks…." she stopped then and her eyes went wide and she gasped getting a look at Cassie's hand as she wiped away the last of the moisture from her cheeks. ".God!"

Vale practically launched her self off of Daniel's lap and pushed Jack out the way to get to Cassie. Sam, retracing Vala's own eyes, also found what Vala had seen, gasped, and was immediately in Cassie's now empty chair reaching over to grab Cassie's left hand so they could get a better look.

"That's on your left…" Sam said trailing off

"Yes it is" Cassie stated and waited for Sam's reaction.

"It's huge! And expensive" Vala said dreamily taking Cassie's hand from Sam and admiring the sparkling ring up close.

"But that means…" Sam tried again.

"Yes it does" Cassie said.

"Oh my god!" Sam breathed out and then grabbed both Cassie and Paul in a hug together. From around them she heard a chorus of congratulations.

Vala was squealing "he proposed, their getting married" over and over again from behind them and bouncing up and down impatiently waiting for Sam to release them. The minute that Sam moved back she too swooped down and had them both in another rather tight hug.

"How? When?" Sam asked with excitement.

"Just now outside…but hang on! There's more!" Cassie said repeating what Sam had said earlier as she tried to pry Vala away from them so that they could breathe. Vala finally let go after Daniel lent in and looped his arm around her waist moving her back to her position on his lap.

"More? That's pretty good news so far what more could there be?" Jack said slapping Paul on the back in non verbal congratulations.

Cassie turned to face Paul making eye contact with him and smiled. He returned the smile and squeezed her side lightly in encouragement. With out breaking eye contact with her fiancé she said warmly "We're having a baby."

There was silence from all around them. But Cassie didn't care, she was lost in Paul's eyes that were shining brighter than she had ever seen. He eyes were filled with love, awe and happiness. All he saw was her, and she him.

Suddenly noise rushed back to her ears as the others around reacted to what she had said. Vala was squealing and jumping up and down on Daniel's lap. Daniel was attempting to calm her down with little success. Cam had moved over and was slapping Paul on the back in congratulations. While Jack eyed Paul suspiciously and something non verbal passed between the two men before Jack smiled and shook his hand again and Tealc caught Cassie's eye and bowed his head to her with a small smile.

But when Cassie met Sam's eyes she stopped dead. Sam was failing miserably at trying not to cry as she looked at the younger women in front of her.

"You're going to have a baby?" she whispered in Cassie's direction.

Cassie could feel her eyes misting up as she nodded at her. Sam let out a strangled sob as her tears spilled over. "That's… that's… I'm..." she struggled to get out before she just settled for standing and pulling Cassie into another hug.

"I'm so happy for you." She whispered into Cassie's ear as she held her. "Your mum would be so proud of you."

"That's been you for the last few years, you know." Cassie said back before pulling away and smiling at the older woman.

"I…" was all Sam could say back, left speechless.

"I love Janet and she was my mum but… you… you were the one who…" Cassie trailed off. Sam nodded back in understanding before her expression changed to one of realisation.

"That means I'm going to be a…"

"Grandmother" Cassie finished for her and waited to see how that title sat with Sam.

"Am I old enough to be a… grandmother?" she questioned before turning sharply towards Jack who looked like he was going to say something "don't even think about uttering a response to that." She stated sharply. Jack just threw his hands up in surrender.

Vala chuckled from Daniel's lap before piping "well Samantha, if your going to be a grandmother than that would make him a grandfather, wouldn't it?" she questioned but at seeing the looks of the others she added "oh come on just 'cause no one will actually acknowledge it' she said waving her arms between Jack and Sam "doesn't mean you all weren't thinking it!"

"Well we can worry about titles later, all that matters right now is that Cassie and the baby are both strong and healthy." Paul said brushing Cassie's hair over her shoulder as she returned to her place on his lap.

"I'll toast to that" Mitchell piped up and they all raised their glasses in a toast.

"To Cassie, Paul and creating new families" Daniel suggested making eye contact with Cassie and winking. Cassie smiled brilliantly back and nodded her head slightly to him.

Everyone cheered and Cassie turned back to make eye contact with Paul. As she bent down and captured his mouth in a warm lingering kiss she couldn't help thinking…

…_Everything worked out just… perfectly…_

_...Daniel was right…__**again**__… _

**THE END!**

**

* * *

**

_**Well there you have it! My labor of love is complete! I'm going to miss Cassie & Paul.....**_

_**I hope you have enjoyed their journey as much as I have! Happy Reading! **_

_**Mya**_


End file.
